Time After the Storm
by AntichromeKing
Summary: This is a story about how Max and Chloe are after the storm and how they deal with what they went through and how time goes on also how they help other deal with everything
1. Surviving the Storm

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

Time After the Storm

Chapter 1: Surviving the Storm

* * *

As Max awoke from her nightmare she realized that she and Chloe were up at the lighthouse. Things were still a little blurry to her but she soon adjusted to being in reality again. The storm was closer than it had been when she first went into the nightmare and it was only getting closer.

When they fell to the ground she herd Chloe say "I see that the real Max is back, don't leave me like that again."

"I'll try not to." Max responded.

Seeing as how the storm was getting closer Chloe hesitantly stated "It seems even fate does not want us to be apart."  
While Max was in nightmare land Chloe had some time to think even though she was staring at a tornado from hell that was supposedly created by Max saving her. It was hard to believe that just because she had not died in that bathroom that this storm was happening.

Max was having tears come up from the sight she was seeing. She exclaimed to Chloe "This is all my fault. Look at that thing. This is happening all because of me."

Chloe had a sharp pain go through her heart as she listened to this. She responded "Don't you dare do this to yourself. You were given this power for some unknown reason so don't beat yourself up over this. You had no idea this would happen. You are Maxine FUCKING Caulfield and you did what you thought was right."

Max said "Yes but Chloe look at that tornado."

This whole time Chloe knew it was there but all she could think about was how Max was beating herself up over the fact that she was responsible when she was given a power with no explanation. It was at this moment that she realized what had to be done. Chloe spoke up with tears in her eyes "Max, maybe you have just been delaying my inevitable fate."

"What are you saying?" Max asked.

Chloe was struggling to get her words out. After a few moments she said "I... I... Oh shit. Max I think that I'm the reason the storm is coming not you." Chloe then pulls the photo of the blue butterfly on the bucket out and hands it towards Max. "All it will take is for you to... to..."

As it hit Max she told Chloe "No fuck that no way. You are my number one priority right now. You are all that matters to me."

These words made things even harder for Chloe. Hearing that her best friend the woman she loved was just as enamored with her as she was with her. Chloe replied "I know that. Al this week you have been so good to me.  
Even though I'm just some ungrateful bitch who does not deserve your attention or care. Or your love for that matter that's why you have to do this."

Max was now full on crying, she said "Chloe i do love you thats why I cant do this."

Chloe was doing the best she could to not cry. She told Max "Max there are so many people in this town that do not deserve to die because of me. My mom deserves better than to die in in some shit hole diner. Even David does not deserve to go through this."

Max softly said "Don't ask me to do this. I can't make this choice."

"No, you're the only one who can make this choice." Chloe told the smaller girl.

As Max took the photo from the blue haired girl she looked deep into her blue eyes. After a few moments the two moved their faces closer together, and without any words the two kissed. It was a long slow kiss with massive amounts of emotions from both of them.

After about a minute they broke this kiss and Chloe started to slowly back away. As she did she told the brunette "Max Caulfield don't you dare forget about me. Now do it before I freak out." Chloe was now in tears.

Max reassured the blue haired punk "Never." Max then turned around to stare at the storm. As she looked upon the storm she raised up the photo and tore it in half. As she did this she stated "Never agian I'm done with time traveling. I've made my choice and I choose her."

Chloe was surpised by what Max had just done. She had condemned a town to a fate just to be with her. Chloe slowly walked up to Max and grabbed her hand and told her "I'm never leaving you Max. I'll always be by your side."

"Forever." Max said softly.

Together they stood at the cliff side of the lighthouse and watched as the tornado cam threw Arcadia Bay. The town that they were both born in. The town that had so many great and bad memories for the both of them.

* * *

As they stood there watching the town get hit by the tornado they caused Max had trouble accepting what she had just done.  
After a few moments she curled up into Chloe's grasp and buried her head into the taller girl's shoulder.

Max felt as if she could hear the pain and agony of all the people in the town suffering. It was to much for too bear at the moment so she just broke down into tears, crying into Chloe's shoulder. Max knew that what she had just done was selfish of her to do. But every time she rewound things just got worse. Also over the past week they found out just how corrupt most of the town was anyway.

In the end it did not matter as soon as she started crying the nightmare Max showed up in her consciousness again. Trying to make her feel even worse about what she just did.

Nightmare Max told her "You really just went and did it didn't you. You really sacrificed a whole town just for her."

While battling her inner demon Max said to her nightmare self "There will be survivors not everyone can possibly die."

Nightmare Max then said "That may be true but how many will suffer because of what you just did. All to be with your worthless punk. It won't end well you know that right?"

"I don't care what you have to say!" Max yelled inside her own head at the nightmare form of herself.

It was quiet in her head for a while. She heard the sound of buildings being torn apart, an explosion here and there. All Max could do was clutch to Chloe as she accepted the choice she made not that long ago.

This decision was hard for Max. She did know that there was a lot of innocent people in the town that did not deserve to have to go through this but she had no other choice. Each time she went back in time and changed something nothing would work out well. She just could not deal with it anymore.

After a while the nightmare told her once again "I told you things would not workout. Just you wait and see."

* * *

As Chloe stood next to Max watching the tornado do its work she could not but help ponder her feelings as she watched the destruction of Arcadia Bay.

She was happy that Max had chosen to save her but did not know how to deal with all that will come with it. How will she help survivors if there will be any. How can she help Max cope with the decision she made. Chloe wondered to herself how the hell she could be there for Max knowing what she just did for her, basically saying that she was worth more than an entire town full of people.

How do you deal with shit like this she thought to herself. As she was pondering this question she saw an explosion come from the two whales diner. Chloe's heart sunk when she saw this. She immediately wondered if her mother was there at this time.  
The blue haired girl immediately tightened her grasp on the smaller brunette girl an little at this sight.

A few moments later she saw a few cars get flown around and one flew into a building. Tears were now pouring out of Chloe's eyes. All the while she herd max sobbing into her shoulder.

Chloe felt sad for Max. She knew that this must be hitting her way harder than it was hitting her. At the same time she had to wonder why Max would choose her over the entire town. As she thought about this she knew that Max must really love her to make that choice.

All the while a few more buildings got destroyed and Chloe's heart sank more. Seeing all of this destruction was too much.  
But she sat there and watched all of it. Chloe felt that even though it did not mean much she would not look away from all this chaos and destruction, not even for one second.

She watched for what felt like an eternity.

* * *

Chloe and Max stood up by the lighthouse until the storm had subsided. The two stood in silence for a while afterward.

Chloe finally broke the silence by asking Max "Um.. Hey are you... you know ok?" She immediately felt like an dofus for asking such a stupid question at a time like this.

Max responded "No. But thanks for asking. It's just going to take a lot of time to accept the fact of what I just did."

"Well I'm here for you. You know that right?" Chloe asked.

Max assured her "I know you are. I'm happy that you are. It's just..."

Chloe put her hand on Max's back and that was enough to let Max know that Chloe understood. The two of them collapsed onto their knees and Max started to cry again. Chloe just held her tight and cried with her. Chloe was at the same time telling herself she wishes she could take all the pain that Max is feeling and just put it on herself. It hurt Chloe to see Max cry like this.

After about twenty minutes Max brought her crying down to a sob. She ten looked at Chloe and said "I guees we should probably go and look for survivors."

"Yeah I guess we should." Chloe agreed. With that the two started down the path to get back to Chloe's truck. Chloe had a short thought about hoping her truck was not damged enough to get them to where all they needed to go.

* * *

Authors note: Thank you for taking time to read this story. This will be my first lengthy story for life is strange. That being said there will be a decent amount of both good and bad times ahead. I know that this type of story has been done so many times but I feel that this was a god place to start.

That being said I do have two other stories in mind that I want to work on witch will be different in their own ways. Once again thank you for reading and any feedback is appreciated.


	2. Survivors of the Storm

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

Chapter 2: Survivors of the Storm

* * *

As the two of them entered the truck Chloe took her jacket off. When she first tried to start the truck it would not. After about four tries it finally started. While they started to slowly move they truck spruted a little to show that it was struggling a bit to get a move on. They drove in silence for a short time with no sound but the rumbling of the truck. Luckily the drive back into town from the light house was not to long of a trip. The truck sounded like it was going to give in at any moment.

When the drove into the outskirts of the town the buildings here did not seem to have taken much damage. But the two girls knew that this was only the beginning. As they got deeper into the town the damage caused by the storm became more noticeable.  
The first place they came across was the hospital. The front entrance took a beating, like a lot of other buildings around there was shattered windows but the front entrance had some of the walls torn from it and a few letters from the word hospital were missing. Luckily though the emergency room entrance seemed to have not really and debris around minus the few broken windows near it.

"Can we stop here? I want to check and see if Kate made it." Max said.

Chloe could easily pick up on the worry in Max's voice. As the truck came to a stuttering stop Chloe looked at Max and told her "Hey listen, no matter what we will get through this."

Max looked up a little teary eyed and said "I know. But still its going to be hard to accept what I just did and who I might have... no have gotten killed."

This made Chloe feel uneasy and angry to an extent. She did not expect Max to take this easy but at the same time she did not ask to be given a weird time power just to not be able to use it. Chloe wanted to help Max in any way she could but at that moment was drawing a blank. Chloe spoke up "I know this does not mean much but, think about what I told you up by the lighthouse. You did not ask for this to happen. Also you did not ask for this power." After she said this she realized that she sounded pretty harsh. She told the smaller girl "I'm not trying to be a bitch about this. I'm just saying this is not entirely your fault. Whatever force of nature gave you your time power is at fault here to."

Hearing this Max had a few tears rolling down the sides of her face. Max then replied "As true as that may be I'm still responsible for this in some way shape or form. Like I said it's just going to be hard to get past all of this and it will take a lot of time."

"I know it will Max, and I will be your side the whole way." Chloe responded. After a few minutes of silence Chloe added "Hey we might want to check our phones. You know to see if anyone we know has tried to contact us."  
As Chloe pulled out her phone she pressed a button to light it up but the phone was clearly out of power. "Shitballs."  
Chloe said in a slightly agitated voice.

Max did the same with her phone but saw that it was also out of power. She told Chloe "I guess we forgot to charge our phones last night."

Seeing as how if they wanted to go and look for people they know to see who made it through the storm they figured they would have to make do the old fashioned way by actually going place to place.

As the blue haired girl got out of the truck she shut her door behind her and went to open up the passenger door to let the brunette girl out of the truck. Once her door was closed Chloe grabbed the smaller girl's hand in a comforting but also reassuring grasp.

* * *

The two girls walked slowly to the emergency entrance of the hospital. As they neared the entrance they noticed that quite a number of people were gathered at the doors, enough to the point to where they could not get in. After a few minutes of observing all of the people they started to exit the doors and disperse into multiple directions.

While the crowd was thinning the two girls heard a familiar voice call out "Max is that you? Oh thank god you survived."  
As they looked back at the doors they saw Kate standing there with a look of relief on her face. Kate hurried over to them and hugged Max.

While hugging Kate Max asked "Kate I'm so glad you're alive, but how did you manage to stay unscathed?"

Kate responded "Well when the storm first hit there was a lot of panic. But as the tornado came closer the hospital staff started to move all of the patients to the basement here."

After a few minutes of conversation between Max and Kate Chloe asked "So where are all of those people going?"

Kate said "Oh those are some of the staff and people who were visiting at the time volunteering to go look for survivors.  
I'm helping organizing the searches. As a matter of fact I need to go report the start of the searches to the man trying to get a hold of fema on a short burst radio please come with me so we can keep talking."

"Has anyone had any phone service?" Max asked.

After a moment of consideration Kate replied "Not that I know of. I think the storm has messed with the cell phone reception pretty bad. Have either of you had any luck?"

Max said "Unfortunately both of our phones are out of power."

While the three of them were walking Max took notice of a few people who were clearly hurt during the storm and had managed to make it here to the hospital. She noticed that some only had minor scars and bruises here and there, but others clearly had suffered much worse.

Chloe noticed that Max had slowed down and had a very grim look on her face. She placed a hand of the smaller girl's left shoulder and whispered to her "Hey it's going to be ok." She knew this would do very little but did not know what else to say at the time.

Noticing that the two girls had stopped Kate asked "Hey is everything alright? Max you look really pale."

"I'm fine." Max replied. "Just still shaken up from the whole thing is all." Max was not sure what else to tell Kate. How could you tell someone that the whole reason the town had to go through the storm was because of the fact that she could not sacrifice the blue haired girl standing next to her.

Kate approached Max and gave her another short hug then they began to walk again. As they walked they saw a few more people who were attempting to help out the injured while they were waiting for doctors and nurses to get to them. After walking down the corridor they made their way to a room with a man sitting at a desk trying to get ahold of someone.  
The man looked to be in his early fouries.

After a few moments of silence Kate told the man "Dr. Bagwell the first group of volunteers have started out their search for survivors."

Dr. Bagwell looked away from the computer monitor and told her "That is good new Miss. Marsh." At that moment there was a beeping noise coming from the monitor. The Dr. looked back at it and had a look of hope on his face. He the exclaimed "We have finally got through to FEMA." A few moments later after some back and forth between him and the representative he looked back at the girls and told them "I've just been informed that FEMA relief squads should be here within the next few hours. By tomorrow morning they will have a full force relief group here."

"That is great news." Kate replied in a high tone of relief.

After they left the room Max looked at Kate and told "Kate it's been good to see you again and amazing to see you survived the storm but we need to go and see about a few other people as well."

Kate responded "I completely understand there is a few people I would like to know if they survived as well but I have offered to help here so I at the moment cannot leave."

Chloe was standing a little bit behind Max not to sure what too say or do so she just decided the best thing to do was to be close by if Max needed her.

"Is there anyone you want us to be on the lookout for in particular?" Max asked.

Kate said "Mostly just some of the people from Blackwell are all I can think of at the moment."

Max and Kate hugged once more. Max added "I'll be sure to let other know you made it and tell them to come see you."

While they made their way back to the truck Max grabbed Chloe's hand again once they were outside. Chloe was a little surprised at this. Mostly because she was not expecting it so suddenly but also because Max waited until they got outside.

When they got back into the truck and tried to start it the truck had trouble starting again. After a few minutes Chloe finally got the thing to start. As they chugged along as they saw more of the destroyed town. Houses and business's in ruins. Not all of them were completely destroyed some were even almost unscathed. But there were still some that were just barely standing.

* * *

After about ten minutes of driving the tuck came to a complete sudden stop. The truck had given out and stopped right in front of Blackwell. Chloe tried time and time again to get the truck to start but it just would not start. Chloe yelled in anger "Fucking piece of shit!"

"Chloe calm down please." Max asserted in a soothing voice.

Chloe responded trying to calm herself down from her unnecessary outburst of anger at something she knew she should have expected "I'm sorry. It's just that I thought maybe my baby here would at least make it to my house."

Max told her "It's ok Chloe this thing seemed to be on its last leg anyway. The storm must have just rattled it so much that it finally gave out."

After a moment Chloe responded "Yeah I know. Well when we get past finding people I'm going to have to just get it fixed again."

Confused Max asked "Are you really wanting to get this thing fixed just to have it breakdown again and owe even more money?"

Chloe told Max "Hey this here is my baby. I cannot just dump her. She has been through worse than this. All she needs is just a little bit of care and she will be as good as new you will see."

Hearing this Max had to admit to herself if there is one thing that she knew for sure about Chloe it is that she loves this old truck.  
Max looked at Chloe and told her "Well while we are here we might as well look to see if anyone is here."

Reluctantly Chloe agreed with her. As they got out they saw that the main building of the school was wrecked. The glass on the windows to the gym were all gone. The boys dorm was missing some pieces from the walls. After a little bit they made it to the little house in front of the girls dorm where principle Wells lived and saw him sitting on the steps.

Principle Wells looked up as he herd footsteps and got up to go see Max. Wells asked "Max are you ok?"

Max said "Yeah Mr. Wells I'm ok I guess. Is anyone else here?"

Just seeing that another one of his students was alive was a good sight to Wells. He told Max "There are a few other students over at the dorms getting a few things from their rooms if they can. It is safe to say that all of your semesters just got put on hold."

"You could say that again." Chloe said in a quick smirk. As soon as she said it she realized that now was not the time for jokes.  
She then said "Sorry I did not mean to make a joke at time like this just happened, sorry."

Max just shook her head a little and principle Wells sat back down. Max told him "If it's ok with you Mr. Well I want to go and try to get a few things from my dorm if I can. I will talk some more after wards if you want to."

While rubbing the back of his neck he replied "Go on ahead I'll be here contemplating things."

* * *

After a minute of moving in and around some scaffolding that was around the entrance to the girls dorm the two girls finally made it inside the building. From what they could tell principle Wells was right, not many people had shown up yet to see about getting some of their things. Max was hoping to herself that they were ok and just not gotten around to showing up yet. Max had not really wanted to come collect much of her stuff maybe a change or two of clothes but she mainly wanted to see if anyone she knew was here at the moment.

As they approached Max's room they heard the sound of someone sobbing coming from Victoria's room. When they approached the door they saw Victoria sitting there with Taylor who was curled in a ball crying on the couch.

Max knocked at the door and asked quietly "Hey are you guys ok?"

Victoria looked up and exclaimed "Does it look like we are ok Max? We just had to go through that fucking storm."

This sarcasm and hatred in Victoria's voice was getting to Chloe. Chloe thought to herself yes we all had to go through this shit just now but don't go and take it out on Max. Chloe just wanted to put Victoria in her place but held herself back.

Taylor looked up and said to Max through a mountain of tears "Max it is so good to see that you survived." After a moment of hesitation she told the brunette "But during the storm, cour... cour..." Taylor had to take a moment before she could finish."Courtney did not make it."  
Taylor then curled back up into a ball crying even harder now.

Max sat down next to Taylor and put her hand on her shoulder and told her "I'm so sorry. I know the three of you were great friends."

Hearing this Victoria stood up and almost shouted "What do you know Max. You don't know anything."

Taylor then looked up and asked "Victoria what has gotten into you. Max has done nothing wrong." Little did anyone know what kind of hell Max had to go through before anything happened from the storm only Chloe knew.

Victoria then continued "My point is she thinks she is all high and might because she thinks that just because you two had one little conversation about your mom she can just waltz in here and be able to make everything better."

"I'm not trying to do anything but just see if you two are alright." Max exclaimed.

Victoria then said "Well we are not so there you have it."

That was the last straw for Chloe. She could not sit idly by while this bitch was getting in Max's face. Chloe then stood up in Victoria's face and told her "You better back off bitch. You know you're not the only one who has lost someone this week. Besides you are no better than anyone yourself. You may not know me and this sure is my first time meeting you but just from this I can tell that you are a cruel bitch. We all just went through that fucking storm and here you are getting in people's faces and trying to hassle them. I may not be that good of a person but at least I know that I'm not as bad off as you."

Even though Victoria knew this girl was right she could not help but argue back "Who the fuck do you think you are bitch. I've seen you running around not doing a damn thing but getting high or drunk and just brining people down with you. I remember you now, your that girl who was always hanging around Rachel."

At this point Max was getting agitated with Victoria she had a right to be angry but not to take it out on Chloe. Max exclaimed "That is enough Victoria you do not get to take your anger out on Chloe. She has done absolutely nothing to you."

"I got this Max." Chloe assured the smaller girl. "By the way bitch, don't ever mention Rachel to me. You did not know her like I did.  
And as for Max, I better not ever hear about you bad mouthing or putting her down again or I will fuck you up."

Seeing the fire in her eyes Victoria backed up some and saw that Chloe was serious. Victoria said "Whatever just leave me alone."

After taking another moment to check on Taylor Max then took Chloe's hand and led her back to her room. Once inside she decide to take a moment to calm Chloe down.

Max sat on the edge of her bed and look up at the blue haired girl and said "Thanks for stopping her from getting her rage on at me but did you have to be so harsh to her."

Chloe responded "I know I went a little far back there but she had to be put in her place. I mean we all just went through that massive storm and she still was being such a..." Max cut her off.

"I know and no she does not really have to be that way but maybe it is the only way she knows how to deal with everything at the moment." Max pondered to Chloe.

The blue haired girl looked into the brunette's eyes and asked her "You always do see the good in people don't you?"

Max said "I suppose I do. I guess that is why I can't stay mad at you then." They both giggled at this statement.

It did not take long for Max to get the few things she came for which was just her phone charger her laptop and charger for it and a few changes of clothes. She figured she would be able to come back for anything else she would or might need to get but for now that was about it.

After the few minutes they were in the smaller girl's room the two left and found Victoria waiting outside of the room for them.  
She then looked up and quietly said "Max I'm sorry." The two girls were shocked to hear this. "Taylor calmed me down some and I did she what see was talking about. I was being a bitch at a time like this."

Max assured her "It is ok Victoria, we have all been through a lot today. Listen I will come back and check on you two but we have a few other people we need to go and see if they are ok. So I will talk to you later ok."

"Sure I guess we can talk more later Max." Victoria said.

* * *

Very shortly after the second conversation they had with Victoria they ran into Dana who was sitting in her room now. Max tugged at Chloe's hand a gave her a look that told her they should go check on the girl.

"Hey Dana, are you ok?" Max asked as she entered the room with her blue haired companion.

Dana looked up and smiled seeing that Max was ok and she had someone with her. Dana said "Max oh it is so good to see that you are ok." She then looked at Chloe and said "I'm sorry but you are Chloe right?" The cheerleader asked.

Shocked that someone she did not really know was at this moment was actually trying to see if she was ok.  
Chloe responded hesitantly "Yeah I'm Chloe Price."

Dana said in a sad tone "I am sad to say that I only really know you from the fact that I've seen you hang out with Trevor and Justin some. I am Dana Ward by the way. It is sad this storm is what made us meet. I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Yeah me to." Chloe responded while still trying to figure out why this person who did not know her at all was all of the sudden seeminglyworried about her.

She then looked back at Max and told her "I'm sorry Max I just disregarded your question. I am ok I suppose. I'm just shooken up you know."

Max replied "Yeah I know I am shaken up to."

At this moment Dana then began to cry. After a few moments she spoke up "Max it happened so fast I did not really know what to do at the time."

After a moment of hesitation Max asked "What happened Dana?"

Dana then told Max and Chloe "Me and Trevor were outside when the storm started. When everything went down we were trying to get to the main school building where most of us here were held up during the storm. But on our way there a big chunk of the gym's outside wall came flying at us..." The cheerleader had to take a moment to cry and then to compose herself. "Trevor pushed me out of the way to not get hit but the chunk hit him then. We managed to get to the main building but he was having trouble breathing. After the storm ended Ms. Grant help me get him to the hospital. They said he has some broken ribs from where the debris hit him."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Max gasped.

The next few minutes went on with Max crying with Dana. Chloe was feeling bad about how upset Max was getting. Seeing what all Max was going to have to deal with because she chose her over going back.

After about ten minutes Max told Dana "Hey Dana listen if there is anything I can do to help let me know."

Dana responded "Thanks Max, but I don't think there is anything right now."

Max said "Ok well let me know if anything comes up. I'll talk more with you later ok. Me and Chloe need to go and see if we can find a few more people."

"Ok bye Max. Oh and Chloe it was nice to finally meet you." Dana told the two girls.

All Chloe could muster up to say was "Yeah you to."

Max asked Chloe "You ready to head out then to see if we can find your mom or David?"

All Chloe could do was just nod at this time.

As they made their way outside they saw principle Wells sitting there drinking whisky pretty heavily. When they made it back to the truck Chloe attempted to start it again but had no luck. After the tenth or so time she sighed "I guess we just have to walk from here. Damn it."

Max put a hand on Chloe's shoulder and assured her "It is ok we will get it fixed when we get done searching for people ok."

Chloe gave Max a halfhearted smile then shook her head. The two then set off down the road to begin their search for Chloe's mom and step dad to see if wither of them had survived.

* * *

Author's note: First off I know I might have seemed to go a little off with the whole Victoria seen but in some cases some people only know how to deal with extremely stressful situations by lashing out at people in ways similar to that. Second thing is this game left such an impression on me I followed it from the very beginning announcement to the very last second of the last episode excited all the way and I got to take a lot from the game. That being said it may seem like some people are going to be a little different but as I said just a little bit ago in situations like this people tend to change quickly into a multitude of things. Also thank you for following with the story and any feedback or advice is appreciated.


	3. Price of Price

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

Chapter 3: Price of Price

Author's Note: First of thank you for the 300 views I really appreciate it. Now I am sure you have all heard this before but I can't help but say it as well. I have not really been able to stop thinking about this game since I finished the last episode on the day it came out.  
With that being said brace yourself for this one.

* * *

While the two girls were walking they saw more of the town that was ravaged by the tornado. Some places did not seem to be that bad off but others looked to be barely holding up. At the same time they did seem some of the people from the hospital out and about looking for others. They did come across a few people who did not make it but they were covered by something and neither of the two was wanting to know just who all had perished from the storm just yet. The few they did pass Chloe could see the expression on Max's face change to an expression of grief and sadness.

After a few more minutes of walking Max began to walk really slow;y. Chloe stopped and turned Max to her. She then told Max while looking into her teary blue eyes "It is ok if we need to stop for a minute. It is ok if you need to cry." Chloe then pulled the smaller girl into a hug. Chloe herself was not entirely sure where that had just come from. She did not know that she could be that comforting.

Max wrapped her arms tightly around the blue haired girl and cried into her shoulder. After a few moments she said sobbingly "It is so much to take in. I was not ready for this."

"Shh, it is ok take your time. This is a lot to take in after what we have just been through." Chloe assured her.

After a few moments The smaller girl looked at the taller one and told her "That may be true but we need to keep moving. I'm just going to cry as we move. I don't deserve this pity."

The blue haired girl did not like hearing Max talk like this. It hurt just to know what she was going through even though she knew that she could not comprehend just what all Max had been through she knew it was bad just from how Max was being. "Ok super Max,  
lead the way." Chloe said in a hopeful attempt to ease the tension.

Max responded "I do not feel so super right now."

Even though Max did not feel super Chloe thought to herself that no matter what she says or thinks Max is super Max, especially after everything she has been through.

Minutes later they came upon Chloe's house. Upon first look all that seemed to happen to the house was the windows were shattered and the siding looked a little banged up. The two girls walked up to the door and stood there for a minute. Chloe grabbed Max's hand and squeezed it tightly. They two then stepped in and saw that things had been thrown around, the storm must have shaken the house worse than it looked.

Chloe called out "Mom, step dick uh... David." There was no response. Chloe was relieved but also more worried now.

As the two walked through the house they noticed a few new cracks in the ceiling and walls not an insane amount but enough to be noticed. The door to the backyard was gone, broken to pieces. They saw that their childhood swing set was gone. Only the imprint from where it sat was left. Since the back of the house was closer to the storm it did seem to get hit worse than the front. A lot more of the siding of the back of the house was missing than in the front. The old grill that had not been used since William died was actually thrown into the house and in pieces.

At this point Chloe was now having tears form in her eye lids. Max took quick notice of this and began to feel guilt build up in her even more. She whispered to the blue haired girl "Chloe I am so sorry."

The blue haired girl sighed "It is ok Max. It is just getting to me."

The two took a minute to stand in silence once again. After a few minutes Chloe stated "Let's keep going, they are not here. We need to keep searching."

Max did not even think to question Chloe, instead she just did as she was told. The two of them left Chloe's house in search of others.

* * *

Much like earlier as the two moved the saw more death and destruction. The closer they got to the shore the worse it seemed to get. But that was expected. The storm did hit near the shore first after all.

After a good while more of walking they finally made it to the street that the Two Whales Diner was on. The two just kind of assumed that this would be a good second place to look. But Max was not prepared for what she had to see on her way down the street to the diner.  
As they reached the start of this stretch of road they saw people from the hospital helping some wounded people, but others were covering those who did not make it.

The first person they noticed to not make it was the truck driver that had been at the two whales everyday this past week. Neither of them really knew his name and they both felt bad about that. He seemed to be stuck under some rubble and it got the best of him. Max could remember how she helped him up in the other timeline.

A little more ways down the path they found where Evan was lying. Max could see the gash in the back of his neck where the sign hit him.  
She remembered how she had to forcefully convince him to leave in the other timeline. Max said "Evan no. All you had to do was move."

Chloe asked "What was that?"

Taking a moment Max told her "In another timeline I got him to leave instead of staying to take photos. I see here it got the best of him."  
Max was now crying harder at the fact that here was someone she had helped but in this time she had not been able to.

The two of them suddenly heard someone call out "Hey over here I think I found someone." They knew this person was not calling to them but they decided to go and see who they had found anyway.

But Max already knew who they had found once she saw the white building where the second floor siding had been ripped off and there was a little ramp leading up a few feet away. This was the building Alyssa was in she thought to herself. The floor on the second level gave way and collapsed. The volunteers picked through the rubble and found Alyssa. After a moment one of the two men looked to the other and shook his head after he checked for a pulse. It was apparent to Max that Alyssa had not made it.

The taller girl nudged the smaller girl's shoulder seeing the massive look of sadness deepen on her face and asked her "I take it you knew her?"

While sobbing Max responded "Yeah... her name was Alyssa." Max had to take a few moments to cry before continuing. "Over the past week something would happen to her each day and I would stop it from happening. But all of that was for noting it seems."

These words made Chloe cringe. She did not like hearing Max second guess herself, or at least that is how it came off to Chloe at least a little bit. Chloe knew that that was a hard decision for Max to make, the one to either sacrifice Chloe or a town and she knew that it had to be the hardest one Max had ever made. Even though she had told the brunette to let her go she was glad and thankful that she chose her over the town even if she was bad at showing it. But at the same time she had noticed that it was taking a massive toll on Max.

After a moment Chloe said "Max I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Max weepingly said.

Staring at the ground Chloe spoke up "Well you are looking at someone you knew who perished in the storm."

The two of them went back to the silence and just reinforced their hold on each other's hands. Moments later they started to move again.  
The two managed to get around the massive pile of rubble in front of the small convenience store after some time of maneuvering in and out of the rubble. Once they passed it Max looked into the window and saw the fisherman who was huddled in a corner fearing for his life in another timeline.  
He clearly never got the courage to move as he laid there motionless. Max had noticed that the electrical wire must have given out and landed in the puddle he was sitting in.

The blue haired girl took a moment to examine the scene and quickly took note of what had happened. She immediately turned Max away so she would not have to look at the scene.

Max told her "I helped him out... now he just sat there and... and..."

Chloe assured her "It is ok Max you do not have to look."

Max teary eyed looked into Chloe's blue eyes and told her "No Chloe I do, I must see what happed because of what I did."

Hearing this Chloe was not sure how to respond so she just nodded. The two then examined the scene a little more before they moved on.

* * *

The two had finally made their way to the Two Whales. It looked as if an explosion had gone off inside of it because well it had. The two of them immediately began to worry. It hit Max right then that she had not been there to put sand on the stream of gasoline to stop the explosion from happening.  
From what they had noticed none of the volunteers from the hospital had made it this far down the street yet. Suddenly the two girls herd some familiar voices coming from behind the diner. The two had their hopes up and hurried to the other side. Neither of them were quite ready for the site that they saw.

Chloe's along with Max's hearts sank at the site. Joyce turned around and saw the two of them and her face lit up with relief. As she turned to move towards them they saw that her left arm was in a makeshift sling from a jacket.

Joyce exclaimed while she was pulling Chloe in for a hug "I am so glad that the both of you are ok. I was so worried."

Chloe did not know how else to respond other than to cling onto her mother and cry into her shoulder. Chloe had not even noticed that her mother moved with a limp as well.

Tears rolling down her face Max quietly said "Oh god, Joyce I am so sorry."

Letting go of Chloe Joyce looked at Max and pulled her in for a hug and told her "Max sweetie you have nothing to be sorry for."

Little did anyone other than Chloe know was that Max was beating herself up on the inside because of all of this. Max was torn up by this.  
Joyce is someone she had known as long as Chloe. But now because of her choice she had caused Joyce to have a broken arm and something wrong in her leg, even if it was not that serious as some injuries Max could not let that go.

After a few moments David walked up and had a sight of relief that Max and Chloe were alright. Joyce then pulled him in for a hug and the girls noticed that he winced in pain a little.

Noticing this Max asked him "David are you ok? You seem hurt."

David told the girls "After you two told me about Jefferson I went with the cops to raid his bunker and he was there. He was not expecting us but he had a gun. He let off two shots and one got me in the shoulder. He did not get taken in. He resisted and went down with a fight. But in the end he did not leave that bunker alive."

Chloe then spoke up "Good riddance. That bastard deserves a lot worse though."

"Chloe!" Joyce gasped.

David said "She is right Joyce. The man was sick and twisted. He had binders full of photos of girls he had drugged and abused in that damn bunker. It was a disgusting sight. The man was..." He had to stop for a minute. "I'm sorry but I need a minute before we go back to him.  
Anyway I did have my arm wrapped up in that jacket but your mother has a broken arm so she needed it more."

Chloe was a little shocked to see David be so caring. Max on the other had could not stop thinking about what Joyce and David had just gone through. Little did Max know was that there was more.

After a few moments Chloe asked her mother "Hey mom it looks like an explosion went off here what happened?"

Joyce told the girls "Well I was in the diner with a truck driver and a young man named Warren and a rough looking fellow named Frank and his dog." Max immediatly froze with fear because she had not seen any of those three yet. It only just now occurred to her that Joyce had came to greet her and Chloe on the side of the building. Joyce continued "While I was tending to Frank and the really badly wounded Fisherman Warren noticed a fire moving towards the entrance. We moved as fast as we could but the fisherman was in no condition to move. He did not make it." Joyce now had tears in her eyes and David tightened his grip on her. "Warren had to help me move Frank because his leg had got really badly hurt. As the tree of us made it to the back exit the explosion went off. Frank pushed me aside and some rubble landed on his bad leg and he is trapped over there." The two girls then looked around the building and found Frank lying there with his left leg crushed under a large piece of wall.  
Max then immediately noticed Warren and was shocked to see what had happened. Joyce told her "As you can see the explosion sent a piece of glass that landed right in his right eye."

It was all Joyce could do to finish her last sentence. Max had taken notice that Warren was just lying there not moving. Max hesitantly asked "Is he alive or did it?"

Seeing how torn up Joyce was, David responded "No he is alive at the moment he is just passed out from the shock most likely. But we need to get him medical attention soon or who know how bad it will get for him. Also we have this guy pinned down here as well."

Having a hard time hearing this Chloe told them "There are a few people down the road from the hospital looking for survivors they will most likely be able to help get him out."

"Ok I will go and get them." David said.

* * *

Max was now over at Warren looking at him while he was unconscious. She thought to herself it looks as if someone tore one of his shirt sleeves and wrapped it around his head to keep the glass shard from moving to much if he thrashed any from the pain.

The brunette was crying heavily now. One of the few friends that she had had was sitting there motionless and now going to have to deal with only having one eye if he made it through this. Max had to question how the hell life could be so cruel from just changing the outcome of one situation. At the same time she had to wonder why the universe was so against the thoght of Chloe. As she thought this she also wondered if that was the case then why was it that when she had died the storm still came. When she was in the dark room with Jefferson after he had shot Chloe the storm still hit. In the alternate reality where Chloe was stuck in a wheelchair because she was paralyzed from the neck down the town still had those crazy weather events happen, so it seemed as if the storm was still coming there to.

But these thoughts did not last long and all she could focus on was the fact that so many people she knew was suffering from a storm that she may or may not have started. Although there was still quite a few people Max had to wonder about that she had not seen or heard from yet.

After a little bit she looked up and looked at Chloe who was over by Frank and Pompidou.

* * *

As Max went to go see about Warren Chloe went over to see Frank and his dog. The mangy mutt came and rubbed against Chloe's leg and she gave him a quick pat on his head.

Frank opened his eyes and noticed that Chloe was there. Frank simply muttered "Hey."

"Hey Frank." Chloe muttered quietly.

He weakly asked "Is anyone going to try and get this off me?"

The blue haired girl told him "My step-dick is going to get some people to help."

After a moment the bearded man asked her "So did you two find anything out about Rachel?"

The thought of Rachel's fate was in the back of Chloe's mind but she had not thought about it much since the storm had hit. She was not sure what to tell Frank at this moment. He was clearly in a lot of pain at the moment was now really the right time to tell him that Rachel was dead and it was Nathan Prescott's fault.

Seeing the hesitation in Chloe's eyes Frank said "Oh god it is bad isn't it?"

She knew that there was no hiding it any more so she told him "Rachel is dead. Nathen Prescott made her od and he and Jefferson buried her in the junk yard."

Hearing this Frank began to cry. Chloe actually felt bad for him. She had never seen Frank breakdown in this way.

Chloe then looked up and saw Max looking back at her.

* * *

As Max came over to Frank she heard him cry out "Oh god it is my fault. The only way he could have done that to her is with the stuff that I sold him."

In an attempt to calm him Max told him "Frank you could not have known, it is not your fault."

He barked back a little harder than he meant to "That does not change the fact that it was my stuff that did it."

"I am so sorry Frank. To you and Chloe, I know you both loved her." Max said quietly.

David soon arrived back with three other men and they looked at Warren quickly before shifting their attention to Frank. After a few minutes of struggling with the giant piece of debris they finally got Frank free but the sight was bad. From the looks of it Frank's leg was just flat. Like all the bone was just crushed.

While he was being carried away by two of the men Chloe told him "Frank we will talk more soon."

Still in shock from hearing Rachel's fate and seeing his leg he just muttered "Yeah ok."

The other of the tree men was picking up Warren to move him to the hospital David was going to help Joyce. Joyce then asked the girls "Are you two coming?"

Taking a moment to think Chloe responded "Yeah just we will stop by the house to get some cloths and stuff the meet you guys there."

Her mother just nodded with a winch of pain in her face. Joyce was clearly now starting to feel some real pain in her arm. David told them "You two be careful out here ok."

Max responded quietly "We will. See you guys soon."

* * *

As the two were walking back to Chloe's house Max could tell something was on Chloe's mind althought she did not know what. She tried to figure out what it was but could not see through Chloe's blank glare. At the same time though the smaller girl had a lot going through her mind as well. Max was having trouble comprehending the fact that in her mind she seemed responsible for Joyce's injury's. She had known Joyce for as long as she has Chloe. Not to mention that Warren was no missing an eye, and Frank most likely had lost a leg. She had to wonder just how many people are suffering because of her being selfish. To top things off she was now getting a headache from all the worrying and crying.

When they reached the Price house again Chloe let out a small sigh as she opened the door. They went upstairs and saw that the window in the hall was broken as well. When they entered Chloe's room they saw the broken window and everything in her room seemed to be more thrown around than usual.

One of the first things Chloe noticed mad her a little angry. She muttered "Damn it my snow doe got broke." Max knew that Chloe loved that snow doe.

Chloe grabbed a few changes worth of cloths because she did not know how long it would be until the house could be considered at least habitable. She though yeah all it really needs is some cleaning and some new windows but that might be a few days away. On top of that she knows Max needs somewhere to stay for a while since her dorm building is in need of repairs, so she just assumed Max might as well stay with her not that she does not want her to but at the time being where to stay was the question.

After a few minutes Chloe told Max "Hey Max sit tight for a minute, I am going to go get mom a set of cloths for when she gets done at the hospital." Max just nodded.

While Chloe was getting the cloths from her mom's closet she had to wonder what all was going through Max's mind. She knew that it had to be quite a lot of things. Chloe let a few tears fall from her eyes. She was not sure what to do at all. Everything has happened so fast and now it was a lot to accept and comprehend.

When she finished and went back into her room she saw the smaller girl curled into a ball crying. The blue haired girl sat down and wrapped her arm around the brunette's shoulder. She told the smaller girl "It is ok. I am right her Super Max."

Max looked up and asked Chloe "What was on your mind on the way here?"

Shocked that she asked such a random question she asked Max back "What do you mean?"

The brunette told her "On the way here you had this look of intense thought on so I am wonder what you were thinking about."

"Nothing at all." Chloe replied in an attempt to not worry Max with her problems.

Max got a little tense at this response and said back "Chloe I know that is not true. Please just tell me."

Hearing the worry in her voice Chloe wants to try to avoid this conversation for now so she says "Really I had nothing on my mind."

This was not going to work Max thought to herself. She is just shutting me out. Does she not want me to be with her now, or did she ever want that. What have I done did I really deny what she really wanted. She did tell me to go and let her die so the town would be safe from that fucking storm but I could not do it. Did I deny her request again, oh god.

The worry was now more potent than it had been all day on Max's faces and Chloe could tell that this was not going well. Before she could say anything Max stopped her.

With a serious look in her eyes the smaller girl told the taller one "Chloe listen, I know what we just went through was a lot but you can not just shut me out like that. We have to talk about things. If we just shut it down and keep all of this pent up we might go crazy. Hell I think I already am."

The taller girl stood up and sighed. After a moment she said "Max I know that this whole day has been one big shit storm for you. I also know that it will take time to recover from this. But I canlt let this one thought that keeps creeping in my mind go away." She then fell silent and looked at the floor.

The smaller girl asked "What is it that keeps bugging you?"

Taking a moment Chloe replied "It's... it's... I can't help but feel happy that you choose me over the town. But I am also fucking distraught about how people are suffering because of me. This thought is driving me mad. I was ready to die and let you go back and let me. But I am also so very fucking glad that you did not do that. You showed me that I mean more than anything at least to you. Now all this bad shit is happening because of me."

Tears now forming in her eyes again Max told her "Chloe, this is not because of you. It is because of me being selfish. I could not let you go.  
I could not stand the thought to be without you again. I am at fault here not you." Max was now full on crying and curling into a ball again.

Not knowing what to say Chloe just sat down next to Max and attempted to wrap her arms around the smaller girl. Chloe started crying too.  
The only thing the blue haired girl could think to say was "We are the only two who really knows what happened even if we do not quite understand it huh?"

This was a statement that Max had to think about. It had a certain amount of depth to it to make her mind wander. They were the only two who knew about the coming disaster. But they could not tell anyone about it or they would think they were crazy. So she soon figured out that it was up to her and her blue haired companion to get each other through it. It will just take time, and a lot of tears.

A few minutes later Max looked up at Chloe and weakly said "At least we are together."

"Forever." Chloe whispered.

It was about ten minutes later when they stopped crying and were about to get ready to leave. As they were about to Chloe looked at Max and told her while looking into her blue eyes "Max I just want you to know that even though you have not told me everything that has happened to you from Jefferson," She had to take moment to cringe at the thought of what he had possibly done to Max. "I will never let anyone hurt you again if I can help it."

This made Max happy. To hear Chloe say that she would watch over and protect her. Max wrapped her arms around Chloe's neck and hugged her tightly. After a moment she told her "That is sweet of you to say but don't go and hurt yourself or get hurt because of me."

In an attempt to lighten the mood some Chloe joked "Ok we have had enough mushy shit for a while. We had better hurry up or step-douche will have a fit we took so long."

Max replied "You know Chloe David is not so bad. Yeah he is rough around the edges but he can be good."

After a moment Chloe said "I know you said he saved you from Jefferson. It will just take me some time to get used to not hating him you know."

"I understand Chloe." Max told her.

The two took their time with each other just happy to be able to confide in one another. Once the two were done they began to make their way back to the hospital for what would most likely be a very long night.


	4. Long Night of Sorrow

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

Chapter 4: Long Night of Sorrow

* * *

As the two girls left Chloe's house the sun was now setting. It is the golden hour Max thought to herself. She could not help but think about how she told the Chloe who was paralyzed about that. She also thought about how all the destruction and chaos from the storm looked in the light from the sun this time of day with that golden tint to it. At this time of day things could look so different yet the same. Max took some time think about the sunsets she had seen over the week as they walked. On Monday she was up by the lighthouse with Chloe while the snow had started. Then on Tuesday she was sitting on the front steps of the main building of Blackwell with Warren when that eclipse happened. As for Wednesday she was in an alternate reality with a Chloe who could not move from her neck down and was on the beach with her. Lastly yesterday she was at the junkyard when they had found Rachel's body. The thing she thought about most during this though was how all of these place looked so different during the sunset.

The brunette was soon brought back to reality as they passed a few more volunteers covering up some bodies of more people who did not make it. Max then began to have tears form in her eyes again.

In a vague attempt to help comfort Max Chloe moved herself closer to the scene to cover it from Max's view. But she knew that this action alone would not be enough to stop her from crying. It hurt Chloe to see the smaller girl in pain like this.

The walk to the hospital was mostly in silence. The two of them had not really said anything to one another. Instead just walking side by side staying close to each other. Finally after a while of silence Chloe spoke up "It was weird seeing David that way you know?"

Somewhat confused Max asked "How so?"

In a low tone the blue haired girl responded "You know, being nice and not an asshole."

Taking note of the low tone in her voice the smaller girl said "I can see what you mean Chloe. But if you can get past his paranoia he does not seem that bad. He even saved me in another timeline." That last sentence was said with a heavy heart.

After a moment Chloe told her "I know Max. I know he saved you. But it is just hard to trust him. There have been a few times where he had gotten a little too angry and I pushed him a little too far and he hit me. So yeah I am just going to have some trouble accepting that as how he really is."

Hearing this had mortified Max. She had known that on the day they first reunited that she had witnessed David hit Chloe once but she just rewound it and took the blame for the weed so that he did not hit Chloe. Hearing that David had done it at least a few more times prior to that though made Max not regret making Joyce make him leave. It seems like David really does need to make some changes she thought. Realizing that she had been looking at Chloe for a few moments looking dumb founded she finally told her "Chloe I am so sorry you had to go through that. I had saw it once but I took it back."

"What when?" Asked Chloe.

Max told her "The day we first reunited. I hid in the closet and stayed there the first time. But when I saw him hit you I had to rewind and take it back I could not stand to see that happen to you."

All Chloe could muster to say was "Wow Max, thanks."

Max told her "I do not like the thought of anyone hurting you Chloe."

Hearing this made Chloe feel happy. She stopped and pulled Max in for a tight hug. She wanted this moment with Max to last forever but she knew that they had to keep moving and get to the hospital to be with Joyce. When they started on their way again they were silent.

As they walked Chloe could not help but ponder what this thing with Max was actually considered. Yes they were friends but were they going to be more. They did share a kiss before Max ripped the photo up but she also withdrew her hand from Chloe's when they ran into Kate at the hospital earlier. Chloe also noticed that they stopped holding hands when they met up with Joyce. She knew that Max had feelings for her she clearly did considering the fact that she just chose her over the town but were they more than just the feelings of being friends. Chloe was not sure how to look at this situation. But little did she know was that Max was also contemplating where there relationship status stood at.

* * *

When the girls finally reached the hospital the sun was almost completely set for the evening. There was little time left before the light outside would be from the moon. The hospital appeared to be even more busy than it was when they had stopped by earlier. They were somewhat relieved to see that at least a good number of injured people had made it here. The first person they ran into was David who seemed to be on his way out.

As he approached them David spoke up "It is good to see you two made it here." Upon seeing him Max could not help but think about what Chloe had told her on the way here. After a moment he resumed "Chloe when I got your mother here they took good care of her. They put her arm in a cast and checked her leg out. It looks as if her leg has got a few minor cracks in the bone but nothing too serious, she should be able to walk fine in just a few days. She is asleep right now. They have her in a room on the third floor in room 319."

The blue haired girl responded "That is good to hear. By any chance do you know what happened with Frank?"

Taking a brief moment to sigh David told her "Chloe his leg was in really bad shape. They had to rush him into an emergency surgery room and they are still working with him. Other than that the only thing I know is that his dog is tied up out back."

In a somewhat agitated tone Max asked him "Where are you going? You seem like you were on your way somewhere."

David said "I have to go to the station to see if they need any help and I have to give a more detailed report on what happened at that bunker with Jefferson."

With that being said he left shortly after that. The two stood there for a few minutes examining their surroundings. Eventually Chloe told Max "I guess at some point we should probably go and check on Pompidou for Frank, maybe feed him to."

"Sure." Max responded.

As they began their way to get to Joyce's room she was in they ran into Stella who was sitting next to Brooke. Max could not tell what was wrong but noticed that Brooke had a bandage on her head. Stella looked to be unharmed in any way though. Even though she had ran into a few others she knew earlier for some reason she did not want to go and confront them. She just stood there frozen. Chloe nudged her to get her attention.

Chloe asked the smaller girl "Hey are you alright?"

Max told her "Yeah I just see two people I go to school with."

The blue haired girl then asked "Should we not go and check on them then."

A moment later Max responded "We should but I just do not know how or what to say to them."

Chloe told her in a calm and soothing voice "Hey it is ok, you can take your time. No need to rush it will be alright. No one expects you to be all up and up. From the looks of it at least one of them have been through some stuff."

Max said "That is not helping. I can see that something happened to Brooke and I have already dealt with some people that I hurt and it was a lot to handle."

The two stood off to the side for a few moments with Chloe patting the smaller girl on the back. After a minute they finally began to make their way to Stella and Brooke. As they approached they noticed that Stella had a few scratches on her arms and face but other than that she looked as if nothing had happened. One thing Chloe could not help but notice was that it was hard to see the red strands of hair Brooke had because of the bandage one her head.

Max greeted quietly "Hey Brooke and Stella, are... are you guys ok?"

Stella responded "Hey Max I am ok."

Taking a moment Brooke said "I guess my head still hurts though."

Max then hesitantly asked "Um what happened? That is if you do not mind me asking."

Brooke explained "Well me and Stella were outside with my drone when the storm hit. We were not too far from the hospital but we were a little ways away. We were just out and about killing time when out of nowhere everything went dark. As the tornado approached we were making our way here when a small piece of debris came and hit me in the head. At first I did not think I was hit that badly I felt like nothing was wrong. But when we got here I passed out." Her head was now giving her more pain so she had to stop.

Stella then finished the story for her "When she passed out when we got here there were still a few doctors out making sure everyone had made it to the basement. One of them helped me get her down there. Once we were down there they did a short examination on her and concluded that she had a concussion. We were lucky we got here when we did. It was not too bad of one they did what little they could to help while we were down there but they could not do much until the storm ended. Once it had ended they brought her to a room up here and helped her more. She woke up about an hour ago. They have been sending someone to check on her every so often but needed the room for someone with some sort of leg injury."

Max responded quietly "I am so sorry."

After a moment of silence Chloe asked Stella "So how did you get those scratches?"

Taking a moment to examine her arms Stella spoke up "Well the one on my head I got from hitting my head on a door last night. I was at the party for a long time last night and it was really late when I got back to my dorm and I was tired and did not realize that I was opening my dorm room door right in my face. As for the ones on my arms while Brooke was being examined after the storm I went to go help some of the volunteers for a short while and while I was out I got scratched up helping get someone out from some ruble."

In this moment a nurse came up to check on Brooke to see how she was doing. After a few minutes of observing and a few questions the nurse told her "Ok Miss Scott you seem to be doing rather well the headache is normal you just need to not use your brain too much and try to stay as calm as possible. We are working on getting a room for you to use for the night as you will need some rest soon."

Brooke replied in a distant tone "Thank you."

Shortly after the nurse left Max looked at Stella and told her "It is good that you are here for her."

Stella told her in a somewhat optimistic tone "I think we all need someone right now."

A few moments later the girls all said good bye to each other. Max and Chloe walked down the hall a bit before they said anything to each other.

* * *

The two girls approached an area that had a lot of people crowding around a desk. They could hear people asking about where loved ones were at and what was wrong with them and how could they help. Chloe knew where her mother was but she did also for some reason felt that she should try to find out how Frank was doing.

The blue haired girl looked at the brunette and asked her "Do you mind if I see if I can find out how Frank is doing?"

"Are you sure?" Max asked her.

With a little confusion in her voice the punk responded "I am not sure how to explain it but I feel like I need to know how he is doing."

After a moment Max said "I understand. We might also want to check on his dog for him at some point."

Chloe laughed a little at this. She said "Oh, I almost forgot about that mangy mutt." She laughed a little more now. After her little laughter spiel she took notice of how pale Max looked. She asked her "Hey are you alright? You look like you are about to pass out."

Max told her "I am ok, just a little tired. I just need a minute."

Chloe put her right hand on Max's left shoulder and told her "Ok you just sit here for a minute. I will go and see if I can find anything out about Frank and be right back."

The brunette nodded as she leaned against a wall. Chloe then looked back at the desk surrounded by a mass amount of people. As she looked around Chloe noticed that there was only one person at the desk and he was swamped with people asking him things. She tried to see if she could get close to even attempt to ask him anything but was stopped at all advances. She did how ever notice that a nurse came and whispered something to the man behind the desk. Immediately after the nurse disappeared behind a door behind the desk. Shortly after she emerged with a tray filled with some medical tools and a few other small things. Chloe figured she might as well try to see if she could find anything out from this nurse.

When Chloe approached the nurse she asked "Hi I am sorry to bother you but do you happen to know anything about Frank Bowers?"

The nurse asked back in a hastily tone "Is he that scruffy looking man who came in with the crushed leg and kept going on about some dog?"

"Yeah that is him." The blue haired girl replied.

The nurse told her "I will tell you when I get back I need to get these things to his surgery room like five minutes ago so please hold on."

As the nurse rushed off Chloe made her way back to Max and informed her that she had no new info just yet. After a few minutes the nurse came back and approached the two girls.

After the nurse greeted them she told Chloe "Mr. Bowers's leg is in really bad condition. He will still be in surgery for quite some time. At this time it is still not guaranteed that his leg can be saved. However the doctors are doing what they can for him. I am also having to get a room ready for him for when he does get out of surgery. He will be in room 426."

Chloe replied "Thank you for the information." The nurse just nodded before she went back to her duties.

Chloe then looked at Max and gave her a small smirk. She told Max "Well mom is still going to be asleep for at least another hour. I know she must be tired but knowing her she cannot nap that long, she will be awake again for at least a little while here in a bit. Also Frank is going to be in surgery for a while."

Taking a moment to think Max told her "I guess we should go check on his dog for him."

Chloe responded "Yeah probably. That dog is probably going crazy without Frank. We might as well try to get him some food as well."

When the two girls saw how pact the cafeteria was they decided to go with what they had done to get a snack for the dog the other day, go through the trash. It took the girls a few minutes to get outside to go look around the back of the hospital for Pompidou. When they found him the dog was chained up to a small post that was not too far from a door. The dog seemed agitated but calmed down and got excited to see Max and Chloe. The dog tried to run to them but the chain stopped them. As the girls approached them Pompidou rubbed against Chloe's left leg. After a minute the dog went to Max and she started to pet his head. While Max was messing with the dog Chloe went to go and look to see if she could find something for him to snack on in the nearby dumpsters. After a few minutes Chloe got lucky and found a few half eaten chicken pieces. As she gave the dog the pieces of chicken the two girls watched the dog eat.

In this moment Max asked Chloe "Hey Chloe are you ok?"

A little stunned Chloe asks back "Um, what do you mean? I should be asking you that."

After a sigh Max replied "I am just worried. You seem to be okay but I know it must be getting to you some degree more than you show."

After a sigh of her own Chloe told her "It is like I told you earlier, it is getting to me. I am just pushing it aside for now to come to terms with everything and to be strong for you. Besides I think you have been through it worse than all of us. You had to make a decision that no one should ever have to make so how are you doing?"

Max said "I honestly do not know Chloe. I am still coming to terms with it but I just do not know, not yet at least." Pompidou had just finished eating and made his way back to them. They both sat there and pet him for a few more minutes before they went to go back inside to go and check on Kate and see if anyone else has shown up.

* * *

When the girls were done seeing Frank's dog and went back inside they had made their way to the second floor and ran into Justin who was leaning against a door. They took notice that the room number was 215.

As Chloe waved at him she called out "Hey Justin."

Justin looked up and saw the two girls approaching him and he gave a small wave. When the two made their way to him he said "Hey Chloe, hey Max.  
It is good to see you guys are ok."

The blue haired girl replied "It is good to see you ok to. Are you alright?"

Justin then explained "To be honest I was not entirely sure what happened until recently. Last night I got so our of it at the party It was crazy. Apparently I got so blazed that someone convinced me that there was this new all night skate park like somewhere outside of the bay so I attempted to hitched a ride out of town for the night. Unfortunately it was a cop that saw I was clearly high and carrying a small amount of weed on me. It was officer Berry who caught me. So he took me to the station for the night and I stayed there. I passed out and came to in the midafternoon the storm had already passed. So officer Barry let me go and told me to give up weed but I think we know that won't happen soon. Anyway Dana called me and told me my boy Trevor was in here and he got hurt during the storm so I came here."

Max asked "Where is Dana? How is she doing?"

Justin told her "I think she is holding up ok. She is in the cafeteria getting some food right now, she has been gone a while she should be back soon."

Chloe chimed in "You are lucky it was Barry who got you. Someone else might not have let you go."

This made Justin laugh some then he responded "Yeah, I guess I got lucky. Man I could use some time to blaze right about now."

Laughing a little herself Chloe told him "Yeah I hear that. But I do not think now would really be a good time dude."

"I suppose you are right. Besides I'm kind of out at the moment anyway."

A few minutes passed by as the three of them were seeing how they were doing. Soon after they see Dana approaching.

As she approached she said "I'm sorry if I knew you two would have been here I would have gotten you guys something."

Max told her "That is ok Dana we are going to get some food later. We just kind of ran into Justin here. Um, can you tell us how Trevor is doing?"

After a small sigh Dana looked at Justin and asked him "Did you not tell them?"

He responded "Hey they asked me how I was doing and if I got hurt. I told them what happened to me and how I found out what all happened. Also I can honestly say I did not understand what that chart said."

Taking a moment to let out another sigh Dana then looked back to Max and Chloe and told them "Well the doctors said that Trevor has three broken ribs and a few torn muscles. They are saying he can recover from this but it will take quite some time. He has been put on a machine to help him breath.  
As for now he is still sleeping. Other than that there is not much to say."

All Max could think to say was "I hope he does recover soon. Remember if there is anything I can do let me know."

"Thank you Max, you are a god friend." Dana told her then handed the tray of food to Justin so she could hug Max.

The duo of Max and Chloe spent another few minutes with Dana and Justin making sure they were ok and did not need anything else at the time before they moved on. When they did finish and leave they began to make their way to the third floor to go and check on Joyce.

* * *

As they reached the third floor they noticed that this floor was not as pact as the other floors but still had a decent amount of people on it. They soon noticed Kate was approaching them.

"Hi Kate." Max said.

Kate told them "It is good to see you guys again. Oh Chloe your mother is Joyce right? I just got done checking on her, she is worried sick about you and Max. She was talking about getting out of her bed to come and search for you. But I told her that I heard from Stella and Brooke that you two were already here."

Hearing this Chloe took a moment to look at the clock on the wall to her right and saw that is was now seven at night. A little surpised at how much time had passed since they arrived back at the hospital She thanked Kate and told Max "Hey Max I will go and check on mom before she freaks. Come and see her when you are done talking with Kate remember room 319."

Max had a sad look on her face but knew that she should give Chloe and her mother some time alone. She then told Chloe "Ok I will be there soon."

Chloe told her "Ok see you in a few." Before she walked away she gave Max one of her signature smirks.

When Chloe left Max turned her attention back to Kate. Max then asked her "How are you doing Kate?"

Kate replied "I am doing ok I suppose. I got to talk to a few others after you guys left. I talked with Dana about Trevor, it is sad what happened to him but she is lucky he was there and cares so much for her. I also got to talk to Stella and Brooke it is good that her concussion was not that bad." Kate's tone became lower as she said the next things she found out about. "I also saw them bring Warren in. It is so horrible that he lost one of his eyes. But the worst is that I heard about Alyssa it was hard to hear that she did not make it."

Hearing all of this made the guilt that Max feel pile up even more than it has been. Max now had tears in her eyes yet again but could not help it. Seeing as how Max was crying Kate pulled her in for a hug. After a few minutes Max finally had it in her to aske Kate "Kate I have to ask, are you doing ok?  
I mean you know after everything you went through this week."

"Oh." Kate said with a little surprise in her voice. Taking a moment to ponder her thoughts she responded "I see why you ask that Max. I know that it must seem like I would have a relapse after everything that has happened but I assure you, after you talked me down from that roof I fell as if I have some sort of purpose again. You showed me that people do care about me again."

Max assured her "People do care about you Kate, Even if they are really bad about showing it."

Kate let out a teary "Thank you Max."

The two of them sat there for a few more minutes full of crying and just seeing how each other was holding up. In the meantime Chloe had made it to the room that her mother was in.

* * *

As Chloe enter room 319 she was greeted by her mother looking up to catch her and give her a bright smile. When the blue haired girl shut the door Joyce told her "Finally you made it. I was beginning to get worried about you and Max. Where is she?"

Chloe then gave her mother one of her signature smirks then replied "It is good to see you to mother. Max is talking with her friend Kate before she comes here. Oh and I am fine by the way."

Letting out a small sigh Joyce said "Chloe please do not pick a fight right now. I was just wondering because it made me so happy to see the both of you safe and sound earlier that is all."

The punk had to laugh a little at this she could not help but mess with her mother at least a little bit. After she finished laughing she told her "I am just messing with you mom. I know it made you happy to see us ok earlier. But seriously are you doing ok."

Joyce said "I am doing the best I can I suppose. It seems as if hard times just can't keep away from us Price women can they hun?"

"You can say that again." Chloe replied. The punk then grabbed a chair from the far corner of the room and set it next to the bed that her mother was in.  
As she set down set let out a sigh.

Her mother asked her "Sweetie how are you doing, you seem like something is on your mind."

After a moment Chloe responded "I am ok I suppose. I am just worried about Max." She knew that she could not tell her mother the real reason she was worried about Max but had to say something since she went this far. "It seems like the storm has riled her up way more than me, you know?"

Joyce told her "Max is a tough girl, she will get through this. It does seem though like she has a lot on her mind though."

"You could say that again." Chloe agreed back.

Max then walked in and saw the two of them sitting next to each other. The brunette was greeted by the two of them smiling at her. Joyce called out "Hey there munchkin."

Max replied "Sorry it took me so long to get her Joyce. I ran into a friend from Blackwell and she wanted to catch up on the day."

"That is ok sweetie." Joyce told her.

After a minute Chloe spoke up "I am going to give you two sometime. I need to go and have a small smoke break."

As Chloe was leaving she stopped and put her hand on Max's shoulder and gave her a smirk. Max did not want Chloe to head out on her own for a smoke break but she knew that she stressed out and needed some space. She then turned her gaze to Joyce was patting her hand on the chair next to her signaling for Max to sit next to her.

Joyce then asked Max "Sweetie how are you doing?"

Max responded "I am ok I suppose."

After a moment Joyce then said "Munchkin just so you know Chloe is worried about you. She told me you seem as if there is a lot on your mind and I can tell by your look on your face that there is."

Hearing this Max knew that she could not tell Joyce everything. She had to think about what to say to not make her sound crazy. So much has happened this week and all of it was so crazy. Max then felt Joyce nudge her shoulder. The photographer then said "It is just that so much crazy shit has happened this week that it is all just so much to take in."

Joyce said "It has been one hell of a week."

* * *

While Chloe was outside and light her cigarette she began to think about things. She was contemplating how Max was handling all these things. She also began to ponder how her mother was actually taking all of this in. She also thought about some of the crazy shit that has happened this week. She was taking slow long drags of her cigarette. Letting out long slow plumes of smoke as she exhaled.

One thought however crept in her mind that she had not thought about since yesterday. That thought was the fate of Rachel Amber that her and Max had discover just yesterday. Different feeling began to swell within her. It had only been one day since she had found out that Rachel was actually gone for good.  
This fact hit Chloe hard. She began to cry while she thought of some of the times she had with Rachel. But at the same time she could not help but think about her feelings for Max. She could not help but doubt if they were real or if they were just that of someone who had just lost someone so special to them.  
This thought made Chloe feel sick. She knew that she loved Max but did not want to have this feeling of guilt about her being used as a rebound or just something to help get over Rachel. She wanted her time with Max to be special and last.

Chloe then began to think about how Max was acting. She knew that Max cared about her hell she condemned a whole town to save her. But she could not shake this weird feeling she had in the back of her head. What was with that kiss they shared back at the light house? She seemed like she liked it and even wanted it. But throughout the rest of the day Max seemed to retreat when someone would look at them. Could it be that she was embarrassed. Thinking about that made the blue haired girl think Max was even cuter. But then she thought about what if this is not what Max wants. This thought mortified Chloe.  
She wanted to do everything she could to help Max but she also wanted to be with Max.

As the bud of her cigarette was burning out she dropped it to the ground and smashed it out with her right boot. She then dried her eyes with her left hand and then made her way back inside.

When she made it back to her mother's room they all decided that they could use some food. Her and Max went to the cafeteria to go and get some food they ended up with some ham sandwiches.

While they were eating Joyce asked "Are you two enjoying your sandwiches?"

Max quickly answered "It is ok but nothing compared to anything you cook."

Laughing a little Joyce conceded "Well when I get out of here I will make you both a special dinner."

Chloe then told her mother "Just so you know we have to get most of the windows in the house fixed. Also just a little work on the house to."

Joyce replied "It is that bad huh?"

While looking at Max Chloe said "It could be worse.


	5. Nightmares

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

Chapter 5: Nightmares

* * *

Author's Note: Just a small heads up some things in this chapter get really heavy and a little dark.

* * *

After they had eaten the mostly sat in silence for the rest of the evening. Joyce had dozed off around ten but Chloe and Max had stayed up a while longer. Neither of them really spoke much to the other except for questioning how others were doing. It was around midnight before they had passed out.

As Chloe drifted off she found herself in a dark void. Nothing was to be seen in sight. She called out but nothing made a sound back. After a while she managed to get herself moving. As she moved she called out here and there and still heard nothing back each time. After a while she finally saw something in the distance and it looked like the lighthouse. Within moments she found herself there at the cliff of the lighthouse. All of the sudden the storm was back and Chloe saw everything being destroyed again. At this moment she began to hear loud screams and cries that sounded like everyone in Arcadia Bay was crying out to her all at once. After a few minutes of this loud agonizing pain everything fell silent once again. Now all of the sudden she was sitting next to a person who looked exactly like her.

In a confused voice Chloe asks "What the hell is this? Who are you?"

The mirror image of Chloe sits there motionless for a moment. Then out of nowhere pulls out a gun and places it on her lap. Chloe saw this and began to worry about what was going to happen next. The other Chloe then lifted the gun up to her head and right as she pulled the trigger vanished into thin air.

A familiar voice called out from behind Chloe "Long time no see Chloe." Chloe turned around and was meet with Rachel standing in front of her.

"Ra... Rachel?" Chloe responded.

Rachel spoke up "That's right it is me." Rachel took a moment to look Chloe up and down. "You do know that this is not going to end well don't you?"

In a confused tone the blue haired girl asked back "What do you mean?"

Laughing a little Rachel told her "This thing between you and Max." This was even more confusing to Chloe. Why was Rachel here telling her that this thing between her and Max was going to go badly.

Chloe shot back "What do you know huh? You are not even here anymore."

Now agitated herself Rachel shot back "Oh yeah and whose fault is that? Who and what do you think drove me to Frank? You and all of your damn problems just keep stacking up and you drive everyone away."

"That is not on me." Chloe yelled back. "You were the one who started banging Frank. That is all on you. Also Nathan and that Jefferson Fuck were the ones who dosed you up to the point where you had an OD."

Rachel replied "Yes but it was because of you. You and all of your problems and you just started to drive me away and make me go crazy from your shit."

Tearing up now Chloe said "I loved you Rachel."

Laughing again Rachel said "Did you really or were you just passing time?"

Sobbing now Chloe quietly replied "I loved you Rachel." Rachel then disappeared. Chloe fell to her knees at the words she had just heard. She felt so alone at this moment and so vulnerable.

The world she was in started to shift around her within moment she found herself in her living room. She looked to her left and saw her mother sitting there next to her. Joyce was sitting there with a blank expression on her face just simply staring at Chloe who was crying.

Joyce asked her "Why are you crying? Is it that you finally realized that you have disappointed me?"

Through her sobbing Chloe asked "What?"

Joyce then continued "You have disappointed me in every way. You had a good thing in Blackwell and you threw it away. You became a pothead and just do nothing with your life now except bum free food off of me. I had such high hopes for you and you let me down."

The blue haired girl responded "My life went to shit. Besides what do you care?" Chloe did not want to respond to her mother this way but she could not stop herself.

Then Joyce said "Even William would be disappointed in you." These words sent Chloe over the edge. She was now full on crying. Those words hurt her to her very core. Joyce then disappered.

Moments later Chloe was sitting next to Max in her truck. The blue haired girl stopped crying just enough after a few minutes to notice this.

Max asked her without looking at her "Chloe what are we even doing?"

Confused Chloe askes back through her tears "What do you mean Max?"

After a sigh Max replied "What I mean is this Chloe. What is this between us? We are not helping each other we are just making things worse for each other. I honestly think that the best thing we can do for each other is to go our separate ways."

"What no! Do not say that!" Chloe cried back. "I cannot go on without you. I need you and you need me."

Max said "No Chloe that is not true." Max then just got out of the truck and began to walk off. Before Chloe could get out to follow her she was in a blank void again.

After what seemed like a long time Rachel appeared in front of her again.

Rachel immediately asked her "Do you see it now Chloe? In the end it will not work out well."

"So what!" Chloe shot back at her.

Rachel then asked "DO you not remember the first thing you saw here. It was you with a gun."

After moment of consideration the blue haired girl responded "What do you think I am going to kill myself because I am not. I might have thought about it a while back but never went anywhere near actually trying it."

Rachel then told her "That is not what the message was. The message was that you will be your own down fall."

Chloe then immediately shot up awake in the chair she was in. She was taken back by the nightmare she had just had. She then pondered the thought would she really be her own downfall, had she really disappointed her mother. Was she going to drive Max away. But the thought that she thought about the most was had she really let her father down, would William be disappointed with her. Chloe then suddenly noticed that Max was fidgeting and whimpering in the chair she was asleep in. The blue haired girl then noticed that Max was crying, she immediatly realized that Max was in some sort of hellish nightmare as well. She scooted over to grab a hold of the sleeping Max to try to comfort her.

* * *

While Chloe had drifted off somewhat easily around midnight Max had a little more trouble trying to get some sleep. For starters they were sitting in some really uncomfortiatable chairs. Then she was also contemplating the fact of what all had happened today. So she sat there and watched over Chloe as she dozed off. Max wondered how she could sleep in that chair but then thought about how tired she must have been. There was no denying the fact that Max was tired herself but she just had trouble actually going to sleep.

When Max finally did fall asleep she found herself in the Two Whales again, and sitting across from her was someone she did not want to see again. Sitting next to her was her nightmare self again.

Nightmare Max said "Well, well, well, here we are again and you have gone and done it haven't you?"

Max spat out "Oh great I get to deal with you again."

After a quick laugh nightmare Max responded "That tough act is funny. Do you really think I am worried about you or scared of you because I am not.  
Besides I am not the one who just let a town get destroyed."

Max practically yelled back "I know what I have done!"

"Do you really know?" Nightmare Max asked. "Because I do not think that you do. You see all you know is what you have seen. But there is more to it than that. There is always more. The things is tha..."

At this point Manx had heard enough and stood up and told her nightmare self "Listen here you already tried this bullshit on me earlier and it clearly did not work then so it will not now."

Taking another moment to laugh nightmare Max then said "It is so funny how you think this all works. I hope you realize that this is only the beginning."

Suddenly her nightmare self was gone and Max was now standing in front of the girl's dormitory. It looked as if everybody was acting normal. People were just going about their daily lives. Then she suddenly heard a familiar voice call to her "Hey Max." Max then looked to her left and saw Warren standing there and with no missing eye.

As she approached she cautiously said "Hi Warren."

Warren then asked "Hey Max you know there is that drive in only sixty miles away LET'S GO APE!"

The brunette let out a quick sigh as she responded "Warren I do not feel like going to the movies."

After a moment Warren responded "Really even after I let you confide in me and I lost and eye because of the choice you made." In that instant he changed to how he looked with his missing eye.

Max took a step back as he changed in front of her and she replied "No. I know that was a bad thing to happen to you but no." Max then began to walk away, as she did the world changed around her and she was now in the Price family house.

The brunette was now sitting at the dining table with Joyce. She had also noticed that Joyce had a photo album on the table going through it. The photo on the page she was looking at was the last photo William ever took. It was the photo of her and Chloe when she was thirteen and in the kitchen with Chloe and her dad. It was the same photo she had used for her first time trip back through a photo.

Joyce then looked at Max and told her "It is a shame that you could not have saved William along with Chloe."

With surprise in her voice Max retorted "I tried to save him as well. But when I did Chloe ended up paralyzed from the neck down and begged me to end her. I could not do that. I love her way to much to do that."

All of the sudden Joyce's arm went limp and she had a look of defeat on her face. Joyce said "Do you really, or is this just another way to hurt me?"

Max cried back "I did not want to hurt you or anybody but I could not sacrifice her."

Almost instantaneously Joyce disappeared and suddenly William was in her place. He looked just as he did in the other reality. After a sigh William asked "Could you really not do it Max? She was in so much pain and you denied her Max, Do you really love my little girl?"

This was not the William she remembered. Max then said back in a cracking voice "How dare you question my feelings for Chloe."

"I may not be here anymore but I am still looking out for my Chloe." William told her.

The next thing she knew Max was walking through the destroyed town of Arcadia Bay. The main difference was that the place was deserted. All of the buildings were silent and no one was on the streets. In an odd way this seemed to be calm compared to the other things she had just dealt with. While she pressed on Max passed over places that she had been at earlier that day. After what seemed like an hour of walking she found herself on the path up to the light house. When Max had finally made it to the lighthouse she found Chloe sitting on the bench smoking a cigarette.

As Max approached her Chloe dropped the cigarette and stepped on it with her right boot. Chloe then said "It took you a while to get here." Max just stood there in silence. "What nothing to say."

After sitting there dumbfounded for a moment Max replied "Oh sorry, I am just processing things."

"It is always the same with you isn't it?" Chloe asked.

Max asked back "What do you mean?"

Chloe responded "You always space out and never pay attention to anything. I just cannot deal with this anymore."

Max said in a low voice "Chloe I am sorry."

In a low tone herself Chloe replied "I am sorry to Max. I cannot deal with this anymore." Chloe then stood up and walked towards the cliff. After a moment she let out a quick sigh then she jumped off the cliff.

As Chloe jumped Max jumped up herself and yelled "CHLOE NO!"

* * *

Seeing Max shaking and crying and ranting on in her sleep and her voice getting louder and louder Chloe knew that she had to wake her up before she woke her mother up and they had to somehow explain what was wrong.

As Max awoke to Chloe shaking her rather roughly she was a little dazed. When she fully comprehended what was going on she looked at her phone to see the time. It was only three am. Max sighed "Damn we only got three hours of sleep. Sorry for waking you up."

Chloe replied "Do not worry about it, I had a nightmare that woke me up. Are you ok? You had me worried there."

Taking a quick moment to compose herself Max told the blue haired girl "It was just a really bad nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Chloe asked.

After a minute Max began "It was myself putting me down again at the beginning. Then your mom with me hurting her." Max thought it would be best to hide the part about William for now. Chloe had been through enough recently without needing another reminder of her father. "In the end it was me and you back at the lighthouse. Then you suddenly just jumped off the cliff."

Hearing all of this made Chloe feel hurt that Max had to deal with this. She told the brunette "I am sorry you had to dream that. But do not worry, I will not be jumping off a cliff anytime soon." Chloe then grabbed ahold of Max's hand in her own.

Max added "Oh yeah and there was this really aggressive Warren trying to get me to date him."

Chloe replied "I bet that was fun."

After a few minutes of sitting in silence and holding hands Max asked the blue haired girl "Do you want to talk about your nightmare?"

Chloe let out a low sigh then told Max "Well mine started off weird. I saw a mirror image of myself with a gun then it disappeared. Then Rachel showed up and put me down, then my mom but what was bad about that was that she said I have let my father down. At the end it was me and you in my truck and you just left me again."

Hearing that last part Max instantly assured her "Chloe I am never leaving you again."

"I know Max. I know." Was all Chloe could manage to say.

The two sat in silence for quite some time. At a subconscious level they both knew that they should talk more but they also knew that neither of them felt like talking anymore at the moment. Max knew that she should tell Chloe about her part with William but hearing her nightmare story about letting her father down she knew that it should wait.

Chloe herself knew that she should try to comfort Max more but did not really know what to do and knew that they had to keep it down so that they would not wake her mother up. The two sat in silence for a long while all while holding hands before they finally did drift back off to sleep.


	6. Morning After the Storm

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

Chapter 6: Morning After the Storm

 **Author's note: First off thank you for the 1,000 views I really appricate it. Secondly I am bad at chapter names so forgive me for generic chapter names. Lastly I just barely got this out in time for my birthday April 29th yeah lol.**

* * *

At eight in the morning a nurse came in to check in and see how Joyce was doing. Joyce Chloe and Max all awoke when the nurse entered the room.  
After a moment Max and Chloe noticed that they were still holding hands and let go of each other's in an attempt to try and stay hidden from Joyce. The nurse smiled to all of them as she made her way to Joyce. The nurse asked "How are you feeling this morning Mrs. Madsen?"

Still a bit sleepy Joyce replied "I am feeling somewhat better. Still feel some pain though."

While checking the chart at the end of the bed and checking the IV drip the nurse said "That is good to hear. The pain will be apparent for a while still."  
When she was done with her checking the nurse looked over at the two girls in the chairs then looked back at Joyce and told her "You are lucky that your two daughters are unharmed and able to be here for you."

Chloe was still trying to get awoke as she was not entirely a morning person so she did not really catch what the nurse said. Max on the other hand had clearly heard what the nurse said. As Max was about to speak up she was interrupted by Joyce saying "Yes I am lucky, I am just so glad that they are safe."

The nurse left shortly after. Chloe stood up and told both her mother and Max "I have to use the bathroom and get changed into some clean cloths. Max you should probably change to when I get done."

After the blue haired girl made her way into the bathroom Max looked at Joyce and asked her "Why did you not tell her I was not your daughter?"

Joyce responded "Sweetie if I told them that you were just my daughter's friend they would not let you stay with me and Chloe. Besides you are like a second daughter to me anyways Max. Also I did not want you to be alone. You needed to be with us."

The brunette said "Thank you Joyce I am proud to be considered a second daughter to you. I could not tell my mother this but you are like a second mom to me."

Joyce then asked "Speaking of Vanessa have you called her or your father?"

"No not yet." Max quietly told Joyce.

Letting out a short sigh Joyce said "Hun you need to call them, they must be worried sick."

After a short sigh of her own the brunette replied "I know, I do need to call them. But if I do they will want me to go back to Seattle and I will have to leave you and Chloe again and I can't do that to her not again." As she said the last few words of that statement Max realized what she had just said and implied by her words even though her and Chloe had not really talked about what their relationship was.

Joyce immediately told her "I see it know."

In an attempt to defend herself Max started "What I meant to say was."

Joyce interrupted the small girl and stated "Hunnie it is ok. I am glad that it is you that she is with." Within moments Chloe had emerged from the bathroom.

* * *

As Chloe entered the bathroom she sat down for a few minutes to just try and process a few things in her mind. The first thing she thought about was how Max was reacting in her sleep to her nightmare. It pained her to see Max like that. She also hoped that these nightmares would not last for a long time as well but had no control over that.

She then needed to take a moment to contemplate over the people who had got killed or hurt during the storm. There was a lot that she did not know but there was also a good many that she did. Chloe took a few moments to sob over this.

Chloe then began to think about how her and Max were now. In her mind she and Max were together but did Max really feel that way. At least she had thought that Max had but the way Max acted did make her question that. After her time thinking she changed into some clean clothes and left to be greeted by hear her mother saying "I am glad it is you that she is with."

When she shut the door Chloe asked "What was that?"

Her mother said with a certain glow in her face "Hello there sweetie."

Max grabbed her bag of clothes and made her way to the bathroom and whispered to Chloe "I am sorry, we need to talk in a bit."

As Max entered the bathroom Chloe sat down next to her mother. Joyce looked her daughter in the eyes and told her "I am so happy for you."

"For what?" Chloe asked.

Her mother then told her "For the fact that you are with Max."

This came as a shock to the blue haired punk. Sure her mother knew that she preferred girls but that she knew that her and Max were together. The punk responded "About that, we have not really talked about that yet it just kind of started like yesterday. Please go easy on her I do not think that she had ever been in this kind of relationship before let alone be open about what gender of people she like. All of this is new to her."

Joyce told her "It is ok Chloe, I do not plan on making things hard for her. As for how I know she hinted at it when we were talking about how she could never leave you again. Those are words of someone in love."

Chloe assured her mother "Like I said we are not really official yet we still need to talk about that."

"I just want you to know that you to always seem like you belong together is all." Joyce assured her daughter.

A few minutes later Max came back into the room. Chloe asked her mom "Are you hungry me and Max can go and get us some food."

Joyce said "I am and you two have a nice chat while you do that."

As they left the room Chloe asked Max "So you told her you will never leave me huh?"

"Sorry about that." Max said quietly.

The punk told Max "It is ok. But we did talk about us. Where do you stand on us?"

After a moment Max replied "I want to be with you in an actual relationship but everything is so new to me I've never been in one before."

A small chuckle came from Chloe as she said "That is ok Maxie. I am willing to go a slow as you need and yes I do want to be with you as well."

Max told Chloe "I want to kiss you now but according to your mom the hospital staff thinks that we are sisters."

"Why is that?" Chloe asked.

Max said "When the nurse came into check on Joyce she said she was lucky to have to daughter who were unharmed and cared about her and Joyce agreed and went with it so I could stay with you and her and not be forced to leave in the evenings."

Chloe said "Well then that is good but I guess we have to be sneaky about affection."

Letting out a small laugh of her own the brunette added "So the Blackwell ninjas will be at it again."

* * *

A short time later after they had gotten some food and eaten the girls were talking about what they had planned for the day. Max said "I want to go and see Kate and see if we can check on some of the others."

Chloe replied "Ok that sounds fine." At this moment her phone lit up from receiving a message. She was surpised to see it was from Frank Bowers.

The brunette asked "What is it Chloe?"

The blue haired punk showed the phone to Max and she read the message. **FRANK:** _'Chloe we need to talk bring your little friend with you as well.'_  
Chloe spoke up "I suppose we should go and see him to see what he wants." Even though she knew that Chloe did not think very highly of Frank she did agree with her. A few minutes later they informed Joyce that they were going to go and see how a few others were doing and that they would be back to check on her soon.

Before they entered the room that Frank was in Chloe stopped in front of Max and asked her "Are you sure that you are up for this? I can go in there alone."

Max assured the blue haired girl "Do not worry about me, I will be fine."

When they entered the room they looked at Frank and saw they look of a defeated man who has lost everything. Max thought to herself that in a way he has lost everything. After they had shut the door the three of them stood in silence for quite some time. Frank was the first to speak "I suppose I should thank you for finding out what happened to Rachel."

Max said quietly "Frank I am so sorry that it turned out like this."

Frank then looked at Chloe and told her "We never really got along but I know why she hung out with you so much. As for your debt do not worry about it, Rachel would want me to let it go."

Chloe was shocked to hear that Frank would just up and drop her debt. She replied "Th.. thank you. I do not know what to say."

Frank then told them "As for me when I get out of here I am not too sure what I am going to do. I am defiantly going to stop dealing weed is the only thing I will keep with since I really could use some now but it is not allowed and I will still need to make some money but that is all I am going to sell. Hell when I get out of here do you two want to blaze up and reminisce about shit."

"Sure." Chloe replied.

Max on the other hand was a little unsure how to answer so she said "Well I do not smoke so I guess I would just be a third wheel to the fun."

Frank replied "Oh yeah sorry about that. I forgot, you are the one who has never even took a baby aspirin." He and Chloe both had a small laugh. He then continued "I was just trying to lighten the mood some. I just know that this is some heavy shit to process and I know I'll need a short break when I get out."

Max assured him "I understand."

Frank then asked "Hey by any chance do either of you know how my dog is doing? He must be going crazy by now."

"We actually spent some time with him and feed him last night." Chloe said.

Frank looked at Chloe and replied "No shit. Even after the shit I've given you and you still look out for him. Thank you."

Chloe told him "It was not big deal man. I actually kind of like the mutt. Speaking of which Max we might want to get him some water a little more food at some point today." Max just nodded in agreement.

Frank told them "I owe you guys for this."

Max assured him "Do not worry about it Frank, it is the least we could do for you." A nurse then came into to check on him and the two girls made their way out to give them some privacy.

When they left the room Chloe said "Hey I need to go for a smoke break you want to come to get some fresh air or look in on someone else and I will meet you in a few."

Max responded "I think I am going to go find Kate and check in on Warren."

Chloe replied "Ok cool. I will see you in a bit ok." After a quick look around she gave Max a quick kiss then made her way outside.

* * *

Within a few minutes of Chloe stepping out to have a smoke Max found Kate by a receptionist desk. The brunette took notice of the fact that Kate was talking about getting something for a patient so she waited until Kate turned to leave the desk. When Kate did turn to leave she spotted Max and gave her a smile as she approached her.

Kate greeted her "Good morning Max."

"Morning Kate." Max replied.

Noticing that Chloe was not round Kate asked "Where is Chloe?"

Max explained "She needed to go have a smoke she will be back in a little bit."

After a moment Kate responded "Oh ok. So how are you this morning?"

The brunette responded "I am ok I suppose. Do you know if anyone can go see Warren yet?"

Kate said "I do not know much about his condition but I was just told that he has woken up and I can go see him do you want to come along?"

"Of course." Max replied.

While the two made their way to the room Warren was in Kate asked "Have you heard anything else about Dana and Trevor?"

Max said "Sorry I have not. I spent most of the night with Chloe and her mother."

When they entered the room Warren was in the first thing Max noticed was the look on his face was one of sorrow. The way he looked up trying to adjust his gaze with the bandage over his missing eye. While still trying to get his gaze focused he groggily said "Hey there Kate. Hi Max."

Max said back in a low tone "Hey Warren how are you doing?"

Warren responded "Well my head still hurts really badly and I am having to get used to focusing with only one eye so it is a little hard to perceive what I am looking at still but after a little bit of time to focus I get it done."

"I am so sorry Warren." Max mumbled.

Warren asked "For what? It is not your fault." Little did he know that it could have been Max's fault but Max herself was not entirely sure that the storm was caused by her but she defiantly felt that it was.

A few minutes later Max's phone made some noise and she checked it to see that she had a message from Chloe. **CHLOE:** _'Hey Max where you at'_

 **MAX:** _'I'm in Warren's room'_

 **CHLOE:** _'Ok tell me the room number I'll be there shortly'_

After she gave Chloe the room number Max told both Warren and Kate "Chloe is on her way she will be here soon."

* * *

After a few minutes Chloe entered the room and Max seemed to be happier now that she was here and Kate took note of this. Chloe said to Warren "Hey there Warham how ya doin." After the pause of silence she explained "Get it because your first name is Warren and your last is Graham."

After a moment Warren responded "No I get it just not really able to comprehend jokes at the moment. I am kind still in a lot of pain."

The punk asked "Do they not have you on any dope ass painkillers?"

Warren replied "Not yet I only just woke up about fifteen minutes ago."

After a few minutes of small talk and seeing how each other was doing Warren spoke up and asked Max "Hey Max maybe when this is over and I get out of here we can finally go to the movies?"

Kate was a little surprised that Warren had just asked Max out. Max on the other hand was somewhat surprised but felt that she should probably just go ahead and tell him about her and Chloe and not drag him on giving him false hope. But she did not want to hurt his feelings too bad after what he has just been through. Chloe on the other hand was a little upset this guy had just asked her girlfriend out. She knew that he had a thing for Max but did not expect him to act on it at this moment. Chloe was about to step up to Warren but then remembered that her and Max were not quite public knowledge yet.  
Max spoke first "Warren I am so sorry but I cannot go on a date with you. I am taken by Chloe here. We actually just became a thing."

Warren said "Oh I am sorry, I did not know you went that way."

Max told him "I was not too sure myself this is still a new thing to me."

Chloe spoke "Sorry bro." It was at this moment that both Chloe and Max looked at Kate who had a look of shock on her face.

Max told Kate "I am sorry I know this goes against your belief's but."

Max was cut short by Kate saying "It is ok Max. You have been an amazing friend to me I am not going to judge you by who you are going to date."

Max replied "Thank you Kate. Oh and um this is a new thing so please don't go and tell everyone ok. There are some people that me and Chloe need to tell and not have them find out through others ok."

"Sure thing, I understand." Kate responded.

Warren added "Don't worry about me I'll keep it quiet until you say so."

Chloe now spoke up "Hey man seriously though I know it sucks losing an eye but thank you for being there and helping my mom out during the storm."

In a low tone he responded "Yeah no problem."

Shortly after a doctor came in and the girls took note that they needed to give the doctor some room and let him and Warren discuss some things. So they all get up and tell Warren goodbye and leave the room. Kate separated from Max and Chloe first to go and see if she could find anything out about Dana and Trevor and said she would text Max when she found anything out. At this moment Max's phone began to ring and she was not ready to talk to the caller.

"Who is it?" The punk asked.

Letting out a quick sigh the brunette told Chloe "It is my mother. I am not ready for this."

Chloe told her "Dude you have to talk to her. Your parents deserve to know that you are alive."

Max conceded "Your right."

As she answered the phone Max was greeted to her mother loudly greeting her "Maxine are you ok are you hurt?"

Max replied "It is ok mom please calm down. And you know that it is Max never Maxine."

Vanessa responded "Oh thank god you are ok. I am so overjoyed to hear that. Me and your father will be there a soon as we can he is at work right now but we will get time off to head over there first thing in the morning."

Hearing that statement sent fear down Max's spine she knew that this meant they her parents would try to take her away from Chloe. Max told her mother "Please do not do that. The roads are very cluttered and you might not be able to get here for some time."

Her mother told her sternly "We will find a way there sweetie don't you worry."

Realizing that there was no stopping her mother Max accepted defeat and said "Ok we will see you when you get here."

Vanessa said "Goodbye sweetie we will see you soon."

After she hung up the phone she let out a huge sigh. Chloe took note of this and asked "Hey what's up?"

Max told her "My parents are going to make their way here tomorrow morning. That would not be so bad if I knew that they were not going to try and force me to leave."

Hearing this made Chloe mad. She was now starting to panic at the thought of Max leaving. Chloe said in a slightly louder tone than she has been using "No this can't be happening. You can't leave me."

Seeing the panic in the punk's eyes and hearing it in her voice Max assured her "Chloe do not worry, I am not going to leave you. We just have to find a way to stop my parents from making me leave." The two stood there for a few minutes in order to compose themselves and calm down a bit. When Max felt that they had calmed down some she said "I suppose we should go and get some food and water for Pompidou."

Chloe replied "Yeah, we should. I feel bad for that dog having to have that stupid name."

Letting out a small giggle Max said "It is a bad name."

* * *

The two had got a small bowl from the cafeteria to put some water in from a bottle they got from a machine and poured some water into the bowl for the dog to drink while they searched for something to feed him. The only thing they found was a few unfished ham sandwiches and gave them to the dog. Pompidou sniffed the ham for a little bit and turned back to the water at first but eventtually went to go and eat the ham.

"At least he is eating." Max spoke up.

Chloe said "Yeah well he can't really be picky right now can he?"

The brunette replied "I suppose not." Max knelt down next to the dog and started to pet him while he was eating. After a minute she looked up at Chloe and asked her "So what are we going to do, I want to stay here with you."

Chloe could hear the desperation in Max's voice. In an attempt to lighten the mood some the punk joked "I do not suppose we came just come out to them that we are a couple now can we?"

Max spat back "This is serious Chloe." She immediately realized how harsh she sounded. "Sorry I did not mean to snap at you."

The blue haired girl responded "Don't worry about it this is a serious problem. But we should tell them about us at some point. Now that I think about it we have to tell David as well. I just hope it goes better than last time he was not happy about me and Rachel being a couple."

Max said "There is still a number of people we need to tell isn't there."

Chloe replied "Yeah there is. About the you staying thing though maybe mom can help us think of something."

"Maybe. I just wish we did not have to deal with this right now." Max replied. The two sat there in silence for a moment before Chloe leaned in and gave Max a small kiss. After that the smaller girl had something on her mind she had to ask "Chloe I have to ask you something but I also know that I will seem like I am trying to ruin the mood but I have to know."

A little worried the punk responds "Ok Max what is it?"

Max said "I have to know before we continue are you sure that you are not just wanting to be with me because you just found out that Rachel is dead. I am sorry but I don't want to just be a rebound thing I want this to be something between us."

It pained Chloe to hear this but she also knew that the brunette was right she had to let her know that this was in fact something special. Chloe spoke up "Max I am sad that Rachel is dead. In fact deep down I am still mourning her. But I know for a fact that I love you and I have since we were younger.  
I just did not know what to tell you back then without making you scarred or not want to see or talk to me again."

Max responded "I am sorry that I brought that up but I had to know."

"It is ok I understand." Chloe replied. Then Max leaned in to give Chloe a small kiss this time.


	7. Preperations

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

Chapter 7: Preparations

* * *

After they had finished feeding and watering Pompidou Max decided that she wanted to check in on Dana and Trevor. Chloe agreed that they should check on them. Max pulled out her phone and began to text Dana. **MAX:** _'Hey Dana is it an ok time for me and Chloe to come and see you and Trevor?'_

About a minute later Max's phone buzzed. **DANA:** _' Yeah sure that would be nice by the way Justin and Juliet are here as well'_

In this moment Max had realized that she had not seen or heard from Juliet since the storm. She felt a little bad that she did not try to find out if the girl was ok. **MAX:** _'Oh good Juliet is ok I was worried we will be there shortly'_

Chloe asked "So are we good to go?"

The smaller girl informed her "Yes and Justin and Juliet are there as well."

The two made their way to the room that the others were in. When they approached the door to the room Max felt her nerves begin to kick in again. She was worried about what would await her inside about how bad Trevor's condition actually was. She did not know him that well but still felt bad about what had happened to him. Chloe could see the hesitation on Max's face and nudged her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. As the door opens the girls are greeted by the site of their friends sitting around the bed Trevor was in. The first thing they noticed was that not only did he have his chest bandaged up but he had tubes going into his nose to help him breath.

Hearing the door open Dana got up and went over to hug Max. Chloe stepped over to Justin and bumped his fist. Dana said "It is good to see you guys again."

Max replied "It is good to see you again too." When she let go of Dana she looked over at Juliet and told her "It is good to see that you made it out of the storm ok."

Juliet sat up and responded "It is good to see you as well. After the vortex party I got a call from my mother asking me to help her with some personal stuff early in the morning so I took a cab out of town and was not here yesterday. I just got back into town an hour ago, it must have been so awful for all of you here."

Justin chimed in "Like I told all of them I was so out of it I did not even know a storm happened."

Chloe joked back "Yeah and I am sure that being held in by the police had nothing to do with that."

"Why am I not surprised?" Juliet asked.

In a lazily attempt to defend himself Justin said "He I was only caught really high with just a little bit of weed."

Max took notice of the fact that Trevor was asleep and asked "Has there been any news on his condition?"

Dana responded "Well as for now he is just sleeping. They said he was lucky to have got here when he did. Because some of his broken ribs scraped against his lungs he was having trouble breathing so they put some tubes connected to a breathing machine down his nose to help him breath."

"I am so sorry." Max said quietly.

Dana told her "Max you have nothing to be sorry for." Max could not help but think again about how the storm as most likely her fault.

Justin spoke up "Man I have seen Trevor fail pretty bad at some skate tricks and get hurt but this is the worst he has ever been hurt I think."

Chloe added "You could say that again. I was there when some of those fails happened."

Dana replied "I was there for a few as well."

Justin then asked Max "Hey Max do you remember when on Monday he tried to demonstrate a tre flip and nut checked himself?"

"I do." Max replied.

Letting out a short laugh Justin continued on "Man that was funny."

Dana spoke up then "Anyone else remember the time he tried to grind the edge of the pool and fell in?"

Juliet added "Oh man his face was priceless when he hit the water."

The blue haired punk said "There was one time me Justin and Trevor were at the skate park some time ago when he went up a half pipe and attempted a three sixty nose grab spin but he did not level the board correctly on the landing and he ate it up."

They all sat around reminiscing about times Trevor had failed at skateboarding and some of the good times they had around him when he was not failing.  
Max herself had only seen the one time so she did not talk much. After a while Dana noticed a strange look on Max's face.

Dana asked her "Hey Max are you ok?"

"Yeah why?" The small brunette girl asked back.

Dana said "You just seem as if something is bothering you."

Max knew that she could not confine in the girl what was going through her mind she would sound like a nut job. She was still surprised that she was able to convince Chloe that she could manipulate time. However she did not want to even think about using her powers again for the thought that she might have caused the storm. She realized that she has sat there for a good moment so she spoke up "I am fine really, just you know still recovering from seeing all that has happened."

After a small sigh Dana replied "Yeah I hear that."

A few moments later Trevor began to wake up and let out a few coughs. Justin said "Hey man you good?"

In a low scratchy and wheezy voice Trevor replied "I am still in a lot of pain but I guess so."

The blue haired punk chimed in "At least they will put you on some sick ass painkillers."

Trevor let out a short laugh and a few more coughs then replied "Hell yeah."

Max looks at Chloe and asks "Seriously?"

Holding up her hands in defense Chloe responds "Hey I cannot help the fact that that is true."

The two stay for a while longer just seeing how the others are doing but Max reminds Chloe that they need to check on her mother soon so they said their goodbyes for now and began to make their way back to Joyce's room.

* * *

When the two girls stepped off the elevator and were now back on the same floor as Joyce they had ran into David who was also on his way to see how Joyce was doing.

David greeted them "Hello Max. Hello Chloe."

Chloe hesitantly replied "Hey there David."

David said "I started helping the FEMA workers out and I am taking a short break to check on Joyce."

Max told him "We were just going to check on her as well."

The three of them went into Joyce's room and her face light up. Joyce called out "David, it is nice to see you. And how is my newest favorite..." Joyce stopped as she saw Chloe behind David motioning for her to stop and not let David know about her and Max being a thing. Joyce was quick to catch this and said "Newly acquainted sisters?"

With a confused look on his face David asked "What? Um what is going on?"

Joyce informed him "Max stayed with us last night and the nurse this morning thought that she was my daughter as well it is just a little thing we thought was funny. But in actuality Max is like a second daughter to me anyway."

After a moment David replied "Well ok then. So how are you doing?"

"I am doing alright I suppose giving everything that has happened. How are you doing?" Joyce responded.

David then explained "I am ok I suppose. After I went and filed out some paper work and gave a statement of what happened at the station last night I met up with the FEMA relief groups and began to work with them. I have been busy helping search for people and bringing them here for treatment.  
The group I am with has found and helped four people today. We also have found three who did not make it."

Joyce told him "I am sorry you had to deal with the ones who did not make it but at least there are some you were able to help."

The two of them sat there talking for a while. Max and Chloe sat off to the side to not intrude. After a while David said his goodbyes and left to go back to working to help see if there was anyone else who needed help for a while.

* * *

Shortly after David left Chloe looked at her mother and told her "Mom we have something happening soon and we need some help."

Joyce asked "What is it sweetie?"

Max informed her "My mom called earlier and told me that her and my dad would be here tomorrow. But I know that they are going to try to take me back to Seattle but I do not want to go I want to stay with Chloe."

Taking a moment to think Joyce replied "I see. Well you can't change how your parents fell. If they want you to go back that is what they want."

In an agitated voice Chloe shot back "FUCK THAT! Max is staying with us!"

Rubbing her forehead Joyce stated "Calm down Chloe. Max is an adult now she can make her own choices. If she does not want to leave then she does not have to. But if her parents want her to go back they will want that. But it is her choice."

Max stated "I do not think it will be that easy, you know how my mother can get."

Joyce assured her "I do but I have a feeling that in the end she will succumb to what you want. That is just something a loving parent does." They sat in silence for a few moments before Joyce asked "Chloe why did you not want me to tell David about you and Max?"

After a sigh the punk said "You know how he was when he found out about me and Rachel. Also Max is new to the whole being together thing."

Joyce replied "Well in his defense he did catch you and Rachel in the afterglow of being together and smoking weed."

"MOM!" Chloe cried out. "Besides you and David both know I smoke weed anyway. So what?"

Joyce responded "Yes but you also know that we do not like the fact that you do. And yes I also know that you open the window to let it air out but we can still smell it a bit so I know you smoke in the house."

The blue haired punk then told her mother "Ok but can we please not talk about Rachel I am sure Max does not want to hear about me and her especially in that way." Chloe was not sure if she should let her mother know that they had found where Rachel was buried the other day and her eyes began to have tears forming in them.

Max did feel somewhat hurt about hearing about Rachel and Chloe together. She was not sure why she was a little jealous of someone who was not even here anymore. But it did hurt to hear about a heated moment between Chloe and Rachel being together like that. Max quickly took notice of the fact that Chloe had tears in her eyes.

Joyce asked "Chloe are you ok? You look like you are about to cry."

So much for not telling her about Rachel's fate Chloe thought to herself. She did not have it in her to tell her mother what had happened. Instead she just looked at Max about to fully start crying and Max just nodded. Max then looked at Joyce and told her "Joyce we found something the day before the storm and it was really bad. We found out that Rachel is buried in the junkyard. We went to go and see for ourselves and we found her body in a shallow grave. It was a horrible sight for Chloe to see."

With tears of her own now falling down her face Joyce took her daughter's hand and told her "I am so sorry sweetie."

Chloe could not muster up the strength to say anything instead she just collapsed down onto her knees crying. After a few minutes she crawled up and hugged her mother tight.

Joyce told her "I know sweetie. That must have been hell on you."

After a while Chloe looked up and said "I do not know what I would have done without Max."

Joyce replied "I see why you want her to stay now, she keeps you strong and you need her."

Max said "And tomorrow we have a whole different type of storm to deal with."


	8. Stressful Reunions

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

Chapter 8: Stressful Reunions

 **Author's note: Firstly sorry for the longer delay between this chapter and the last but this one is the longest chapter I have written, heads up this chapter is just over 7,000 words and that is before I put in this author's note. Anyway without further ado here is chapter 8.**

* * *

When Max woke up she looked at her phone and noticed that it was eight in the morning on Sunday. She knew that she had to be ready for her parents to show up at some point later that day but did not really want to think about that at the moment. Instead she looked over at Chloe who was still sleeping peacefully. She felt relieved to see the blue haired punk with a calm face on while she slept. Max then leaned over and pushed a strand of blue hair out of Chloe's face. But what the brunette did not know was that the punk's mother had woken up and was watcher her watch her daughter sleep.

As she watched Max lean back after moving some of Chloe's hair Joyce spoke up "I have not seen her look so peaceful in her sleep in a long time."

Taken my surprise Max let out a little squeal. When she took notice that Joyce was awake she responded "I am sorry but I did not see that you were awake."

"That is ok sweetie." Joyce said. "I am certain that look on her face is because of you. I have noticed that she has been somewhat different since you have been back. But are you alright with everything? I know that Chloe can be a lot to handle so I have to ask. Has she been trying to make you do anything that you do not want to do?"

Surprised by what Joyce just asked Max hesitantly responded "Well uh, like we said yesterday this is something that has just started so no she has not.  
Also she told me yesterday that she knows that all of this is new to me so that she is willing to go as slow as I need to."

Joyce replied "I just wanted to make sure she was not out of line. I am happy for you two I just want her to not overstep her bounds is all."

Max said "I understand Joyce, and I appreciate your concern."

A few minutes later Chloe opened her eyes and began to stir. She let out a big yawn as she stretched out her arms. She was quick to notice that both Max and her mother were awake. Chloe asked "So how long have you guys been up waiting for me to wake up?"

Joyce told her "We have not been up that long only a few minutes. Did you sleep well?"

The punk replied "You know I actually did."

"That is good to hear." Max added.

Joyce spoke up again "So I hope you two do not mind but I asked David to join us today when your parents come here Max. I hope you two do not mind. But I know you are probably going to tell your parents about being together and it is only fair he finds out then to."

In this moment Max knew that she would have to deal with all of this at some point. She replied "That is ok I suppose."

The punk added "Only if you can keep him on a leash."

Joyce said "Really Chloe. I just thought it would be nice if he found out to."

The blue haired girl told her mother "I understand that but I also know how he took it the last time he found out I was with someone. I just do not want to put up with his bullshit today is all."

Joyce replied "I understand Chloe, I will do the best I can to keep him at bay if he gets out of hand."

Chloe asked Max "Do we have any idea of when your parents might show up?"

The brunette answered "I honestly have no idea when they will get here." Max then looked at her phone again and noticed that she had got a message two hours earlier telling her that her parents had left. "Well my parents messaged me two hours ago saying that they were on the road."

Joyce chimed in "So that means they could show up anytime this afternoon."

Max asked Joyce "Are they doing anything with you today?"

Joyce replied "Well today is supposedly the day I can get up and move around some. My leg was not that bad so they told me today I should be able to get up and move around some."

Chloe added "That is good to hear."

Max said "We will be here for support."

"Thank you girls." Joyce responded.

The brunette then told Chloe "Chloe I would like to go and check on Brooke and Stella at some point before my parents get here."

Chloe replied "Ok that is fine we can do that."

* * *

Shortly after they had eaten Max and Chloe made their way to where Brooke and Stella were. They found the two in the main entrance way to the third floor. As they approached Max said "Hi Stella. Hi Brooke how are you doing today?"

Brooke responded "Ok I suppose still just need to be careful. I am just moving around some testing my limits a little you know. Have to be careful since I just had a concussion."

Stella said "I have just been with her mostly. My parents called last night to see if I was ok it was nice to talk to them."

Brooke then stated "We went to go see Warren about an hour ago. That is really terrible what happened to him." Hearing the pain in Brooke's voice Max knew that Warren's loss upset the girl. She also knew all too well what had happened to Warren. Brooke then added "Maybe when he gets out of here and things calm down some I will try and do something nice for him." Max also knew that there was no maybe to this statement, Brooke would do something nice she practically was head over heels for him Warren himself just did not seem to notice though.

Max quietly replied "That is terrible."

Stella then asked "So how have you guys been doing?"

The blue haired punk responded "Oh you know just hanging in there processing all the shit that has happened."

After a few moments Stella then said "It is hard to believe that Alyssa did not make it."

All Max could muster to say was "I know."

A small beeping noise caught Chloe's attention she pulled out her phone and noticed that she had received a message from Frank. **FRANK:** _'Hey Chloe can you come see me alone I need a favor.'_

 **CHLOE:** _'Sure hold on a bit I'll be there as soon as I can.'_

The punk then asked Max "Hey Frank needs something I'll be right back will you be ok here with these two?"

Max said "I'll come with you."

Chloe responded "Sorry but he wants me to show up alone."

This did not sound good to Max. The brunette said "That sounds suspicious I should come."

Chloe said "It is not like he could do anything anyway. Besides he said the debt was wiped so I doubt he will do anything extreme anyway."

Seeing that there was no winning here Max responded "Sure I will see you in a bit then.

As Chloe left Stella asked "She was talking about Frank right the drug dealer?"

"Yeah." Max responded.

With a little shock on her face Stella then asked "Why?"

Max told her "Believe it or not they are actually friends."

* * *

As Chloe entered Frank's room she called out "Yo Frank what's up?"

Frank replied "Nothing much just sitting here on my ass waiting to be able to leave."

Chloe then stated "Before we get down to bidness I want to know one thing. Why did you want to see me alone and not have Max come?"

After a moment of thought Frank responded "To be honest that girl creeps me out a little. She is kind of strange and I need a favor one she might not approve of so I wanted to talk to you alone."

The punk told him "Dude Max is hella cool. And just you so know that creepy strange little girl is my girlfriend now."

After the realization hit him Frank said "Sorry about the strange and creep me out bit."

The punk replied "Whatever just do not say that shit again. I love those strange qualities about her. Besides we have been through a lot this week. I feel so lucky to be able to be with her." At this point Chloe noticed that she was beginning to ramble. "So anyway what is this favor you need?"

Frank told her "So I need you to go to my RV and get my money and stash from it before anyone tries to move it and look through it to find something worth taking. And yes you can take some of the weed as payment. But I expect all of my money to make it back to me and yes I know exactly how much I have so I will know if some is missing."

In an agitated voice Chloe shot back "Dude I will not take your money you just wiped my debt clean why would I want to piss you off now?"

He assured her "Do not take it personal I just wanted to be clear on what I wanted done. Although the weed will have to be stashed somewhere else. It will be hard to have my small stash here in a hospital."

Chloe said "On my way back I'll stop by my house and hide it in my room for the time being."

Frank replied "Ok and by the way there should still be some dog food left in the bag I have for Pompidou you might want to get that as well so you have a somewhat easier time getting him food for now."

"Ok sure." The punk replied and went to go get his keys from his jacket on a nearby chair.

As she was making her way to the door Frank called out "Hey before you go can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Chloe answered.

Frank asked "How did you and Max get together? She does not seem your type."

Chloe took a moment to think about how to answer this question she would have to leave out a lot of details so she gave it to him simple. "Well we both went through so much this week and we were there for each other and it just kind of happened."

* * *

When Chloe was done talking to Frank she began looking for Max. She found the girl near Trevor's room. Chloe called out "Yo Maximus."

Max looked up and smiled when she saw Chloe. The brunette then asked "So what did Frank want?"

Chloe told her "He was paranoid about someone going to move his RV and wants me to go and get his money and move his stash for him before someone decides to loot his RV. It kind of is a valid thing to worry about I guess."

Max said "So another thing on the to do list for today."

"I guess so." Chloe responded. "So where you about to go check on Trevor and Dana?"

Max replied "Yeah."

The two girls knocked on the door then entered when they heard a call out for them to come in. They were greeted by Dana, Trevor and Juliet all smiling at them. Max said "Hi guys."

Dana called out "You know you two always seems to be together a lot, like all of the time now."

When Max looked at Chloe she saw a look on her face she knew all too well. Max told the punk "Go ahead and tell them I know you want to."

Chloe then proudly announced to the room "So you guys know me and Max here we are officially together now."

Dana called out "What? Max you always seemed like you would get with Warren."

Juliet chimed in "I know I thought that to."

Max responded "Well this sort of just happened."

The cheerleader then asked "So Max how did Warren take the news?"

Max answered "I think he took it pretty well he did not seem to take it bad or anything."

Chloe chimed in "He will get past it soon from what I hear there is another girl who really likes him."

Dana responded "Is that so, who is it?"

Max replied "Brooke."

Juliet added "They do seem like they would go good together."

After a minutes Trevor said "Man you know it looks and feels bad what happened to me but I will heal in time. I heard he lost and eye, man that sucks he will go through the rest of his life missing an eye."

Chloe saw the look on Max's face change into one of despair she did not want Max to get all gloomy right now but had no control over it. The punk said "That does suck but at least he is alive. On a side note where the hell is Justin?"

Dana said "He went back to go his dorm to get his bit of weed he had put back."

Chloe replied "Of course he did."

At this moment Chloe's message tone went off. She pulled out her phone and looked at the text. **MOM:** _'David just got here he will stay until we meet with Max's parents'_

 **CHLOE:** _'Ok mom we will be head back in a min'_

The punk looked up and told Max "Max we need to head back to my mom's room."

Max said "Ok." The two of them said their goodbyes and made their way back to Joyce's room.

* * *

As they entered the room they were greeted by both Joyce and David. David said "Ok now that you two are here will you tell me what it is that your mother said you had to say."

Joyce chimed in "David I told you that you would have to wait until Max's parents showed up."

Max heard her phone go off and she looked at the message. **MOM:** _'Maxine we just arrived what room are you in?'_

Max spoke up "Speaking of my parents they just arrived."

Chloe asked her "Are you ready for this?"

"No." Max said quietly.

Somewhat agitated by all the secrecy David asked "What the hell is going on?"

Slightly agitated herself Chloe shot back "Hold the hell on and you will find out in a few minutes."

Joyce spoke up "David please just calm down and hold on for just a little bit longer."

Max then texted her mother. **MAX:** _'I am in Joyce's room she is in room 319'_

A few minutes later Max's parents entered the room and immediately hugged Max. As they were hugging their daughter Joyce called out "Ryan and Vanessa Caulfield it is good to see you both again."

Ryan spoke first "It is good to see you again to Joyce sorry you had to go through that storm and got injured." He then looked at David and asked "I'm sorry but who are you?"

David replied "I am David Madsen Joyce's husband."

Ryan responded "It is nice to meet you."

While still squeezing her daughter Vanessa said to her daughter "Oh Max sweetie we were both so worried about you it is so good to see you safe."

Max replied "It is good to see you to." Vanessa then tightened her grip on Max and it became hard for her to breath. "Mom I am not able to breath."

Vanessa then finally let go of her daughter and looked up and saw Joyce and David. But the blue haired girl caught her attention immediately. Vanessa said "Chloe is that you? You look so different."

Chloe responded "A lot can hella happen in five years."

Ryan called out "The blue hair suits you."

Chloe responded "Thanks."

Ryan then stated "The tornado hit the bay pretty bad it seems."

David replied "You could say that again. The search parties are still finding bodies and survivors."

Ryan said "It is such a shame something like this happened here."

Joyce said "It will take a good amount of time for this town to recover but if the past has proven anything it is that we can get through this."

Vanessa then stated "I am so sorry for you and Chloe both. The two of you have both been through so much."

Joyce stated "Yes we have, but us Price women are strong."

Ryan asked "How are you two holding up."

Joyce replied "I am ok, doing the best I can as you see."

The punk replied "I'm ok. Been a hella weird week."

Max could see the anxiety and tension rising in Chloe. She also knew what was bothering Chloe but did not want to quite yet address the elephant in the room. So she decided to quickly attempt to change the topic. Max asked "So mom and dad how have you two been?"

Ryan told her "Well work has been busy but it is good to see you again and to see Joyce and Chloe again as well."

Vanessa said "I have been so high strung since we heard about the tornado. It is just so good to see you again sweetie."

Joyce added "It has been so wonderful having Max back in our life's again. I know that Chloe is happy."

The blue haired girl spoke up "Yeah I have been happier since she came back. Things have just seemed to be better like they were back before she left."

Max knew that she did not mean that to be in a way to sound like she was made at her for leaving. But it still hurt to hear Chloe talk about her being gone. Max said "It has been good being back to, well except for the storm."

Vanessa stated "Well I guess you will be coming back to Seattle with us right?"

The short brunette girl realized that the metaphorical shit had just literally hit the fan. Her mother had addressed the elephant in the room. And now this would start the one conversation she did not really want to have or deal with.

Chloe asked "Excuse me but what?"

Vanessa said "Well she is coming back to Seattle with us."

"Why do you think that?" Chloe asked.

Vanessa stated "Well there is nothing else left here for her."

Hearing this the rage began to boil inside of Chloe. Seeing this Joyce told her "Chloe calm down sweetie."

Chloe shot back "Oh no I will not."

Vanessa asked "What has gotten into you?"

Chloe stated "What has gotten into me? Well for starters my dad died in a car accident five years ago. Then shortly after that you two gets some jobs in a city real fucking far away and drag my best friend away and leave me alone."

Joyce interrupted "Chloe watch your language."

Chloe shot back "Sorry but no fucking way they need to hear it like this."

David called out "Hey do not talk to your mother like that."

Now with fire in her eyes Chloe stared daggers at David and told him "You stay the hell out of this step-fucker. You shut the hell up and listen you will hear soon what you need to hear. Anyway back to you two." Chloe now looked back at Ryan and Vanessa. "You have no idea what hell I went through without Max. And now that she is back and we have reconnected you just want to take her away again. Fuck that no way." Chloe stopped when she felt Max put a hand on her shoulder.

Vanessa then stated "Excuse me but it is not like we are doing this to just torment you. We are doing what is best for our daughter. And besides you do not get a say in what we do with you."

"Are you so sure about that?" The punk asked back.

Confused Vanessa and Ryan both ask back "What?"

Chloe looked at Max and said "Go ahead, tell them."

This was not how Max wanted this to go with her parents. She was not too sure how this would go down but she had hoped that it would have been better than this. She took a moment to look around the room and see the confused look on everyone's faces. Then she looked at Chloe's. Just a second ago the punk looked like she was ready to beat on someone. But now had this comforting look on her face as she stared at the shorter brunette girl. After taking a second to catch her breath Max stated "Mom, Dad... um, Chloe and I. We are kind of um... girlfriends now."

"What?!" Vanessa practically yelled.

Ryan simply stated "Well I can honestly say I was not expecting that."

David chimed in "Is this what I was supposed to find out?"

Joyce said "Yes it was David. I have to ask because of how you took it last time. Are you ok with this?"

David replied "I don't care. I knew Chloe was into girls. I am just glad I did not find out about these two like I did with her and Rachel."

Joyce responded "Oh David I am so happy for them."

Vanessa called out "You're happy for this. How can you be happy for this?"

Joyce asked "What do you mean?"

Vanessa stated "Look at this. It is not right. Max is such a sweet girl and Chloe is so..."

Chloe shot back "So what? What am I bitch?"

Joyce said in a higher tone "Chloe!"

Chloe told her mother "No mom I want to know."

Vanessa said "You're just not like her in anyway. I have been getting calls from your principle about you acting strange Max. What kind of bad influence has she been to you?"

Max told her mother "Mom Chloe has not been a bad influence on me. I have always been strange around others you know that."

Chloe then stated "You have no idea what kind of shit we have been through this week."

Vanessa asked "How could that matter to this."

"It matters to everything." Chloe shot back. "For starters Max saved my life this week literally. Then we reconnected. On top of that she saved a girl form jumping off a roof the next day. After that we began looking into the disappearance of the girl who came after Max, Rachel Amber. What we found was terible. She was murdered and we found her body. On top of that that Nathan bitch made her OD. A few weeks ago he tried the same thing to me. But on top of all of that we found out that her photograph teach was a fucking crazy asshole who drugs girls and kidnaps them to photograph then and do god knows what else to them. And do you know what else I have fallen in love with Max during all of this."

In a shocked tone Vanessa asked "In love?"

Ryan then asked "Wait your teacher was doing what?"

As Max was about to explain David cut her off. He said "I will explain. These two have seen enough of that hellish place for a life time. That sick fuck would drug girls from the school and possible around town the police are still examining all of his evidence. Once they were out he would take then to this bunker he had and take pictures of them while they were helpless and out of it. It just makes me sick."

Vanessa then stated "See this adds to the fact that there is nothing else here for you."

Chloe stated "You cannot force her to do anything she is a grown woman no she can decide for herself."

Joyce stated "Vanessa she is right. Max is an adult now."

Vanessa replied "No offence Joyce but you and your delinquent daughter get no say in how I handle my daughter."

Joyce shot back "Hey my daughter may not be the best but don't talk her down like that."

Vanessa said "It is true just look at her she has the look of a delenquent."

While staring daggers at Vanessa Joyce replied "How dare you go after Chloe like that."

As David was about to say something Ryan put a hand on his shoulder and told him "Trust me David this is one fight you do not want to get in between."

David asked "Why do you say that?"

Ryan said "Well I've been through a few fights between those two. Believe me even when William was there me and him together could not get through to them. It is just best if we sit back and let them fight it out. Eventually they will tire out then we step in." Seeing how this was playing out in front of him David found it best to heed Ryan's advice.

Meanwhile Max was telling her mother "Mom please stop putting Chloe down. She does not deserve that."

Vanessa asked "Max what has gotten into you. That is not the girl you grew up with."

Max argued "Yes she is mom she has just changed some most people do."

Vanessa then turned to Chloe and asked "Ok then how well exactly are you doing in school these days hmm?"

Chloe asked "What does that matter?"

Vanessa said "Why don't you answer?"

Chloe shot back "If you must know I am currently not in school."

Vanessa then turned back to Max "See she just gave up. Max I am just trying to look out for you. There is so much potential inside of you, you can have the ability to do anything you want."

Max told her "So what if she is not in school, it is not like she is going to force me to quit I would not do that anyway. I can still do great things and be with her."

Chloe then stated "How dare you bitch. How could you think I would do something like that to Max?"

Joyce stated "Vanessa Max is a grown woman. Also I highly doubt that Max would just quit school. Am I happy that she dropped out no. But I am happy that she is happy for Max. So as parents is that not what we should be happy about for our children is that they are happy?"

Before Vanessa could answer a nurse came in. The nurse said "Mrs. Madsen sorry to interrupt but it is time for us to have you to try walking some."

Vanessa stated "Max come with me and your father we need to talk alone for a bit"

Chloe spoke up "You can speak to both of us."

Vanessa shot back "No I will not and you need to step back."

In an attempt to calm the punk down Max told her "Chloe do not worry I will be back soon. Besides you need to be with your mom right now."

The punk told Max "Ok but promise me that you will come back."

"I will." The brunette told the punk.

As the Caulfield family exited the room Joyce whispered to David "David could you please go keep an eye on them and make sure that they do not try to leave?  
It will earn you some points with Chloe."

David responded "Sure." He then made his way out of the room.

* * *

When David left the room Chloe asked "Where is he going?"

Joyce told her "He is going to keep an eye on them to make sure they do not leave. Just to give you a little piece of mind." The nurse then helped Joyce up to start trying to walk some. Joyce winced in pain for the first few steps.

The nurse asked "Are you ok? How bad is the pain?"

Joyce responded "Oh I am ok dear. I just have a headache as well I will be fine." The nurse helped her walk around the room for a few minutes before Joyce sat back down on the bed. In all actuality her leg did not seem to be in that bad of shape but was still in some pain.

The nurse said "I will return in a few minutes to try again but I need to go check on the person next door."

Joyce said "Ok that is fine." The nurse then made her way out of the room and Joyce looked at Chloe and told her "I know that you will not want to hear this but you need to calm down around her parents. If you want her to stay you need to be less aggressive."

The punk stated "I know but I cannot help it. I am just panicking at the fact that someone might try to separate us again."

Joyce replied "I know sweetie. All that is wrong is that this must be a lot for her parents to process they just need time but I have a feeling that she will be able to stay."

"Thanks mom, I needed to hear that." Chloe told her mother then hugged her.

* * *

Max was worrying what her parents were going to tell her now that they were alone. How was she going to deal with them if they were not going to let her stay. When they stopped Max said "Before you guys ask yes I do love her."

Vanessa sighed then said "Oh Max how can you be sure. You are young you could just be confused."

Max stated "All I know is that I've not really ever felt this way about anyone but her. No other girls or guys for that matter. I've only felt this way for her."

Ryan asked "Are you happy?"

The brunette replied "I am dad why can't you and mom see that."

Ryan stated "Max sweetie this is a lot to take in we just need time."

Vanessa said "What are you serious? How can you be fine with this?"

Ryan told Vanessa "Vanessa we agreed a long time ago that we would be fine with anyone she picks why are you being this way."

Vanessa stated "I never thought it would be like this and with her."

"MOM!" Max shouted. "For fucks sake please stop talking about Chloe like that. She has been through so much and I just wish I was there to help her through it but I was not. But I will be there for her now."

Vanessa responded "But sweetie the town is destroyed there is nothing here."

Max glared back and said "Stop saying that mother."

Vanessa said "But sweetie look at her."

"I do mother believe me I do. And I love everything about her." Max stated.

Vanessa said "But it is as I already stated there is nothing here for you right now your school is going to be closed for who knows how long."

The short brunette told her mother "I will finish whenever they open back up, I want to finish here at Blackwell."

Vanessa shouted "Damn it Maxine listen."

Max shouted back "No you listen I am going to be with her weather you like it or not."

Ryan spoke up "Ok calm down you two. Max give me a minute with your mother."

Max said "I will. And yes before you ask I will be with Chloe and her mother."

* * *

As Max entered Joyce's room a smile came over her face as she saw Chloe and her mother sitting there talking. She was greeted by Chloe "Hey Max how did it go?"

Max replied "Not to good, my mom is being so damn stubborn about this."

The punk responded "She is being a bitch about this."

Joyce spoke up "Chloe what did we just get done talking about."

Chloe responded to her mother "I know but it is true she is being one."

Joyce said "I know she is being difficult but it is like I told you this is all new to them as well. But I am surprised that Max is not more like her mother in that aspect. Max you are so calm and timid while your mother can be a handful to deal with."

Max replied "I am just not much of a person for conflict."

Joyce stated "That is a good quality to have. But there are some things that you have to be willing to fight for. To me this seems to me as if this is one of those situations where this is something worth fighting for.

Chloe added "Mom is right and we all know damn well that I will fight for this."

"I will to." Max said.

Joyce spoke up "Sweetie let me tell you something. I know this might not help much but you need to know. When I found out Chloe was into girls it came as one hell of a shock. To be honest I could not tell you what all was going through my mind when I found all of this out. It took some time to get used to it but eventually I did. To be honest I am surprised that you are into girls as well Max. But if my Chloe is with someone like you I do not mind at all."

With a few tears in her eyes Max said "Thank you Joyce."

* * *

When Max had left earshot Ryan told his wife "Vanessa you know that we cannot control her for her entire life. She is going to want to experience things and make choices for herself. At some point you have to let her free."

Vanessa told him "I know but it is just so damn hard to do. Not only that but look at what she has just been through. How can you be so calm during all of this?"

Ryan stated "To be honest on the inside I am terrified. But one of us has to be strong and supportive here. But she is fine you see that."

Vanessa shot back "How can you be sure she is fine that could just be an act. Besides all of this is so sudden how did this even come to happen?"

Ryan replied "It just does there is nothing we could have done to see this coming or change how it happened."

At this point David thought to himself now would be a good time to reveal himself and try to help explain a few things. David approached them and said "Hey sorry to interrupt but I may be able to help."

With a puzzled look Vanessa asked "How so?"

David told them. "I may not be Chloe's real father hell I have been told many, many times that I am far from it and come nowhere near close. But Joyce is her mother. I was there when she found out. Now I had no idea she had found out but she was acting somewhat strange for a while. Then I found out and boy did I wish it was in a different way. Anyway after I had found out I talked with Joyce. It was hard for her to truly accept the fact but she was always happy for Chloe. What I am trying to say is that eventually you will come to terms with it. It may not be anytime soon or easy to do but you just get used to it."

Vanessa asked "How the hell is that supposed to help?"

David told her "Like I said it might help."

Ryan told him "Thanks anyway." David then walked off.

Vanessa turned and hugged her husband and asked him "What are we going to do?"

Ryan said "Well there is not much to do."

* * *

Shortly after the nurse had came back and helped Joyce walk some more David had made his way back to the room. As Joyce settled back into the bed she had been using she asked him "So how did it go?"

David responded "In all honesty I am not too sure."

Max asked "How did what go?"

Chloe teased her "Well we are just so nosy huh?"

Joyce assured Max "Oh nothing sweetie he was just talking with your parents."

Before anyone had time to say anything else Vanessa and Ryan reentered the room. Ryan spoke first "Max we just want you to understand that we care about you we really do. But this just came as a real surprise to us."

Vanessa said "This was not something we were expecting."

Max told them "Like I said earlier this is all new to me as well. I just want you to understand is all."

Ryan told her "We will in time we just need time."

Joyce spoke up "It will come to you eventually."

Chloe added "I suppose I should apologize for how I acted to you guys earlier."

Not thinking Vanessa shot out "Yes you should."

Hearing the tone Vanessa was using made Chloe get a little mad herself. She was doing her best to subside her anger to keep a calm demeanor during this conversation. But Max told her mother "Mom do not snap at Chloe like that."

Seeing the tensions rising Joyce spoke up "Girls could you two please give me and David some time to talk to Max's parents alone."

Chloe said "Sure." She then turned to Max and asked her "Hey I've got to go get something for a friend do you want to come with?"

"Sure." Max replied.

* * *

When the two girls left Joyce looked at Ryan and Vanessa and said "I know you are going to ask me what that was about. If I know Chloe like I do I just saved us some trouble. I know you did not mean to snap at her Vanessa but because of what she has been through she does not take to snaps like that really well. She has not really ever gotten over William's death. Besides Max he was the person that meant the most to her."

Vanessa said "I know that was hard on you both but what if Max says one wrong this and she goes crazy on her?"

Joyce stated "I do not think that we have to worry about that. Look at how she looks at Max and how Max looks back at her. I am not saying that Chloe will never get mad at her that is impossible everybody gets made at everyone at some point. But Max has changed my baby girl in a week and it makes me so happy that she is happy in some way again."

Ryan then asked "Yes but how did you two deal with it?"

Joyce said "It was not easy."

David added "No it was not. It took me even longer than Joyce to come to terms with it all.

Joyce began again "It defiantly was a surprise. But eventually I came to terms with it because Chloe was happy. And now that she is with Max I can honestly say I am a little surprised but thinking back to when they were younger and the way they were always with each other I am not surprised."

Ryan said "Now that you mention it, this does make some sense now."

"I see it too." Vanessa added.

* * *

As they exited the hospital Chloe took a cigarette out of her pack and lit it up. Max asked her "So what is this favor that we need to do?"

The punk said "Well Frank gave me his keys he wants me to go get his money and his stash from his RV before people go and clear it out."

Max replied "Um, ok."

Chloe asked "What is it?"

Max told her "Oh nothing it is just funny to think that he hated you so much the other day and now he trusts you with his money and his weed stash."

Chloe replied "Now that you mention it this does seem funny. On a more serious note do you think your mother will ever accept us as a thing?"

After letting out a sigh Max answered "In all honesty I do not know."

After a sigh of her own Chloe said "I guess only time will tell."

The two walked in silence for a while until they came across the crashed RV at the two whales diner. The two took a moment to take in the scene of this devastation. Tears were forming in both of their eyes. Max stated "This place looks so much worse in the sunlight."

Chloe told her "Come one let's get this over with the faster we do this the faster we get out of here." They began to shift their way through the rubble to make their way to the RV. Once they went around the back of the building they had to move slowly through the ruined diner. The explosion had really messed the place up. Once they reached the front of the RV they found that the keys were not needed. There was a huge opening on the side of the RV now. Chloe made her way to the back of the mobile home and after a few minutes of searching found Frank's money. Max kept her self busy by checking for his stash but it seemed as if most of it was destroyed. She went to the back with Chloe and checked the cub bards back there and found two jars left.  
Chloe grabbed the bag of dog food in the room and found it to be a little less than half full. Chloe then stated "Ok we got the money, the dope ass weed,  
and the dog food we are good to go."

The two were quite for most of the time except for when Chloe said they go and stash the weed in her room. Once they reached Chloe's house and hid the stash they took a moment to rest. Chloe took a joint out and held it for a moment. She looked at Max and asked "Do you mind?"

Max told her "Go ahead."

The punk said "Come join me out on the roof outside my window." When Chloe stepped through the window she looked back and took Max's hand to help her through the window. Once they were both outside and sitting there Chloe lit the joint and took a long drag from it.

Max looked out into the sky and said "Today has been so stressful."

Chloe asked "Do you want a hit?"

Max responded "What? No I am good."

The punk replied "Suit yourself. I needed it though."

The brunette said "That is ok, I do not mind that you smoke I just do not want to."

The punk chuckled "To each his own."

The two sat there while Chloe smoke the joint down to a nub and flicked it away after she put it out. She looked over at Max who was eyeing the skyline.  
The punk smiled to herself happy that she was with Max. Max then looked over at Chloe and gave her a small smile. Max said "No matter what I am not leaving."

Chloe said "I know Max. I'll be with you whenever you need me." The two sat there for a while longer as the sun was now starting to set. They were content to just watch it set together.


	9. Hard Night

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 9: Hard Night**

 **Author's Note: Ok so I know this is a little late but the first review did not show up in my notifications until after I posted the last chapter.**

 **Nick M, Thanks for being the first one to leave a review on this story I appreciate it and no I am not a psychology major.**

 **GrumpyCat42, Thank you for your advice and I am sorry that my writing is to stiff and the last chapter was difficult to read hopefully I can improve and make it better.**

* * *

By the time the two girls made it back to the hospital the sun had been set for about an hour and a half. They ran into Max's parents who were on their way out. Ryan was waving at them. Chloe had still not gotten over how Vanessa acted earlier so she was somewhat hesitant to approach them. Max was able to feel this by how Chloe's grip on her hand tightened Max in turn tightened her grip.

When the two groups met Ryan said "Hey girls it is nice to see you both again before we leave for the evening."

The punk asked "So you are leaving already?"

Ryan told her "No we will be staying at a motel outside of town for a couple of nights."

With tears in her eyes Vanessa told Max "Max sweetie we love you so much." She reached out and grabbed her daughter and pulled her into a hug.  
"We just need time."

Max told her mother "It is ok mom. This is new to me to."

With that they each said their goodbyes and Max's parents left for the evening. As the two girls made their way through the main lobby they saw David Walking with two trays of food. They both agreed that it would be best to give Joyce and David some time alone after what all has happened in the past few days. The two quickly made their way to the cafeteria to get them some diner.

Shortly after they had gotten some food while the two of them were looking for a place to sit Max noticed that Kate was sitting at a table by herself.  
"Hey Chloe lets go sit with Kate."

"Ok." The punk responded.

When they reached the table Max asked "Hey Kate do you mind if we sit with you?"

Kate answered "No not at all."

As they sat down the brunette asked "So Kate how was your day?"

Kate said "Well today has been busy, with more people being found and people being here it means more work naturally. I am not saying that is a bad thing I like and enjoy helping people. But man am I worn out. I just got done going all over this hospital for nine hours. The first and second floors are fully packed with patients now. I believe I know what a busy day in a nurse's life feels like now. I did get to have a short nice conversation with a few of the on staff nurses and learned a few things."

The brunette said "That sounds like a hard day."

Kate asked "So how was your guy's day?"

Max told her "Well my parents showed up today and we told them about me and Chloe being together."

"Oh and how did that go?" Asked Kate.

Chloe stated "Well it went bad really fast. Her mom took it bad from the start. Her father seemed ok with it thought to some degree."

The photographer added "Well this is all new stuff to them as well as me, they did tell us they just needed some time."

The blue haired girl replied "I know but your mother did handle somewhat bad."

Kate told them "I am so sorry to hear that. You two do not deserve to be judged like that, especially from someone so close to you."

The punk asked Kate "Sorry but are you telling me that you do not think this is wrong between us?"

"CHLOE!" Max called out.

"What?" The punk asked back in a confused tone. "I am sorry but is not not from a super religious family do they not look down on this type of relationship that we have going on?" Max just shook her head in disappointment.

Kate told Chloe "Chloe I do come from a super religious family but I am not going to judge you like that. Especially after everything I have just been through. I will not lie, I am not entirely too sure how I am about my religion at this point. I still believe yes but I am not sure what to think about that part of the beliefs of your relationship."

Chloe replied "Thanks, and uh sorry for questioning you."

Kate assured her "Don't be."

Max then asked Kate "Speaking of your family have you heard anything else from them?"

Kate said "I got to have a small conversation with my dad this morning. He was glad that I was ok from the storm. He told me that in the next two days he is going to try to get down here to visit."

The brunette responded "That is nice to hear."

Kate replied "It is, I have not seen my father in a while. I just wish that it was under better circumstances that he was visiting."

The three of them sat there chatting for another twenty minutes before Kate excused herself because she got tired and needed some sleep. When she left Max and Chloe began to make their way to Joyce's room.

* * *

As the two entered the room Joyce called out "There you two are what have you been up to for so long."

Chloe told her mother "Well I had to go help a friend with something and we went for a walk for a while."

David asked "Who is this friend you had to help?"

"Chill out man it was nothing much." The punk shot back.

Seeing that this was most likely going to explode into an argument between the two Max stepped in to calm things down. The brunette told David "We just went to go and feed Kate's pet bunny for her." In that moment panic shot through Max. She had forgotten about the bunny for the most part. She gave it a little food when they went to her dorm to get a few cloths but she forgot about it. She made a mental note to go and check on the bunny tomorrow.

David replied "I was just asking Chloe."

Joyce spoke up "Anyway Max I am sorry that things went the way that they did earlier. I know that must have been hard for you."

Max replied "It was. I knew that there was a good chance that mom would not take it well but I suppose that it could have gone worse."

Chloe told her "Well you do not have to worry about things on this end."

Joyce responded "That is right sweetie. As far as I am concerned you are now defiantly part of the family. I will always welcome you with open arms.  
Not that I would not have before. It is just different now, not in a bad way mind you."

"Thank you Joyce." Max replied.

David asked "So how bad is the school anyways? I have not been able to go and see for myself I have been busy since the storm."

The brunette told him "It was not hit that bad, very minimal damage to the school itself actually."

David responded "That is good to hear I suppose. Well I guess I better get back to the police station I have to do a few more things before I get to get some sleep tonight. I will stop by in the morning."

Joyce spoke up "Goodbye David."

"Goodbye Joyce." David said back. He then looked at Max and Chloe and gave them a small nod before heading out the door.

As David left the room Chloe turned to her mother and asked "So what did you talk about with Max's parents?"

Joyce told her daughter "We talked about a few things. We talked a little about you and Max. Then we talked about some of the things you have been up to since they left originally. In general we talked mostly about how things have been since William passed away."

The punk stated "I bet they really like the idea of me with Max now that you told them what I have been into."

Joyce replied "For crying out loud calm down Chloe, I did not tell them that much. All I told them was how much William passing really affected you and how you never really got over it."

Chloe responded "I suppose that is not that bad."

Max told her "No it is not Chloe. Besides it does not matter what they think I want to be with you.

* * *

It is a beautiful day outside today Max thought to herself, she was sitting in a car watching the scenery pass her by. The trees outside had that nice brownish red tint to them that they have during the autumn season. As the car came to a stop at a red light Max pulled out her camera to take a picture of a group of squirrels siting in a nearby tree. A familiar voice called out "It is god to see you taking pictures again Maxine."

Hearing her full name brought her out of her train of thought and she looked to her left and saw her mother. "Mom what? What is going on?"

Vanessa told her "What do you mean sweetie?"

The brunette asked "Where is Chloe?"

"Oh not this again." Her mother responded. "I already told you I am taking you away from her bad influences. It is not good for you to be around her."

Max told her mother "What the hell mom I love her."

Vanessa stated "Oh please sweetie you do not know what love is, besides you are just confused."

"Chloe will not stand for you just taking me away from her." Max told her mother in a serious tone.

Vanessa let out a small laugh then said "We do not have to worry about her."

Confused by what her mother was saying Max was getting upset. She then got a message on her phone. She pulled out her phone and saw it was from Chloe. **CHLOE:** _'Thanks for leaving me that stupid letter. I can't fucking believe that I thought you would not abandon me again.'_

 **MAX:** _'Chloe please listen that was written by my mother not me I would never abandon you.'_

 **CHLOE:** _'What ever do not even try to lie to me bitch.'_

 **MAX:** _'CHLOE PLEASE!'_

 **CHLOE:** _'Don't ever text me again just stay out of my life for god this time.'_

Max's heart sank, she could not believe that Chloe was being this way to her. She looked to her mother and asked her "How could you do this?"

"It is for your own good Maxine." Vanessa stated.

Max shouted back "How could you even know bitch! I FUCKING LOVE HER! And don't ever call me Maxine."

All of the sudden another familiar voice called out "See I did you a favor when I shot her." Max looked in the backseat and saw Mark Jefferson sitting there with a smug grin on his face. "Hello there Maxine."

Vanessa said "Yes he did and you had to go and rewind and make it so she was ok."

Confused Max asked "How do you even know about that?"

Her mother stated "That does not matter. All that matters now is that we can have control over you."

Max yelled "NO!"

Max immediately woke up and found her self covered in a cold sweat. She took a moment to look at her surroundings. She was in fact still in Joyce's room with her and Chloe. She looked at the clock and saw that it was only three in the morning.

Feeling Max move from her Chloe woke up and saw that the girl was breathing hard and sweating. The punk asked "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine just a really bad dream." Max told her.

Chloe asked "Do you want to talk about it."

The brunette responded "Not right now. I will later but it is too early in the morning. I hate these fucking nightmares."

Chloe told her "Hopefully they will go away in time."


	10. Back Home

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 10: Back Home**

 **Author's note: Wow ten chapters already, this story is also close to being my most viewed story in total so thank you all.**

* * *

"So what did they tell you?" The punk asked her mother.

Joyce responded "They told me that later this afternoon I can go home."

"That is good to hear." Chloe said.

Joyce stated "It is hard to believe that it has almost been a week since that horrible storm. Oh lord I have not even seen the condition of the house since the storm hit. Can we even stay in it?"

Chloe replied "Calm down mom, the house did take some damage but nothing to serious. Besides me and David covered up all of the broken windows yesterday."

Joyce responded "You and David actually did something together?"

"I only did it because Max asked me to. It was horrible I had no idea what to say neither did he we, really did not talk." The punk answered. "Seeing as how worried you are I will go ahead and tell you that there is a fair number of cracks in the walls and ceiling now."

Joyce said "I guess that cannot be helped we will just have to get those cracks fixed at some point. By the way where is Max?"

Chloe answered "She went to go visit her friend Kate."

Joyce asked "Why are you not with her then? These past few days you two have been inseparable."

The punk stated "Well there is something I need to talk with you about."

"And what might that be?" Joyce asked.

The blue haired girl replied "Well ugh, seeing as how Max's dorm building is in kind of bad shape I was wondering if..." Joyce stoped her daughter before she could continue.

Joyce stated "I thought you two said Blackwell was not hit that badly?"

Chloe said "Well from the outside the main building did seem to not be that bad off. The girls dorm building however is another story."

Joyce then asked "You two did not really look at Blackwell did you?"

The punk answered "No not really we just went to Max's dorm room. We did not check the rest of the campus we had other important things on our minds at the time. Anyway can I please continue with what I have to talk with you about?"

Joyce said "I am sorry for interrupting you Chloe please go on."

"Thank you." Chloe replies. "Anyway as I was saying, since the dorm building is in need of repairs and cleaning it will be kind of hard for Max to stay there.  
So I was wondering if you would be ok with her staying with us for a while?" Joyce did not answer immediately and this was worrying Chloe. As her mother sat there she tried to read her face for any kind of answer but found none.

Joyce was a little surprised that Chloe asked her about this. Her daughter did not usually ask her if it was ok for her with whatever her daughter was up to.  
After a few moments Joyce spoke up "Well first let me say that I am surprised that you are even asking if it is ok with me. Second yes it is ok with me,  
you know I like Max and she is like a second daughter anyway. Third it is not like I could stop you from letting her stay anyway."

Hearing this was joyous to Chloe. "Well you have a point there. I guess I would have her over anyway."

Her mother then told her "Just promise me that you two will be careful and keep it down when you are doing you know what."

"MOM!" Chloe practically yelled.

Joyce responded "What, I am sorry but I do not need to hear it."

The punk replied "I already told you we just got together and we are going slow. We are not even discussing that kind of stuff yet."

* * *

Max and Kate had found a quiet corner in the cafeteria to sit and have a nice chat. It was fairly empty in the cafeteria in the moment. As they sat down Kate gave Max a small smile, Max in return gave her a small smile back. Kate asked "So how have you been lately?"

The photographer replied "Honestly it has been a rough few days."

"Do you want to talk about it?" The christian girl asked.

Max responded "Well ever since we broke it to my parents that me and Chloe are together things have been rough. First off they did not take it so well.  
Then they insisted that I go back to Seattle with them. On top of that we all just went through that damn storm, and at the same time a lot of people that I care about got hurt in some way. All while it turns out that our photography teacher was crazy."

Kate said "I heard about Mr. Jefferson. That was really unexpected, the cops came by the other day to question me about it. They... they found a binder with pictures of me in it."

"Kate I am so sorry I did not mean to bring up that. I did not mean to remind you anymore about your predicament." Max told her.

The christian girl replied "It is ok Max, I am just still trying to come to terms with all of this new information. I just can't believe that Mr. Jefferson would do something like that, I never expected our teacher to be that way."

The brunette responded "He had all of us fooled, no one expected him." Max wanted to confide more to the girl but remembered that in this timeline she never ended up captured and suffered through the dark room.

Kate said "Max do you mind if we do not talk about this anymore right now? I just do not want to think about it at the moment."

Max told her "Sure Kate I understand."

Kate responded "Anyway I am sorry to hear that your parents seemed to have problems with you being with Chloe."

The brunette replied "Thanks Kate, I do wish they would let up on that. I mean we've known each other for so many years now and we have always been really close to each other."

The christian girl replied "I am sorry to hear that."

Max told her "Thanks again, sorry for laying all of this on you I know you have more important things to worry about. Oh by the way me and Chloe have been checking on Alice and she is doing fine but misses you. We moved her and her cage to Chloe's house last night, hopefully they are letting Joyce go later today so we will be at the Price house."

Kate said "Oh thank you for taking care of my sweet bunny. I was worrying about her."

"It is no problem Kate." Max told her.

* * *

At around five in the afternoon Joyce was informed that she was discharged and able to go home. As Joyce and the two girls were gathering their belongings she told them "I am glad to be going home."

The brunette spoke up "I bet, it will be nice to be back in your own environment instead of this hospital room."

The punk asked "Should we get some food before we leave? I do not think that any stores are back in business yet and I do not have my truck to make a run into the next town to go get us anything."

Joyce responded "Do not worry about it Chloe. David said he has something planed for dinner tonight. And we will get to your truck as soon as possible."

Max said "That is nice of David to do but what exactly does he have planned?"

Joyce replied "That I do not know sweetie."

Chloe then asked "Well when is he supposed to arrive to pick us up?"

Her mother answered "He said he would be here a little after five."

"Well that is just great the guy can't even give us a good time frame just around." The punk stated.

Joyce said "Chloe now what did we talk about."

Chloe shot back "I know mother, I know." Once the three of them had gathered their things they began to make theit way to the front entrance of the hospital. Once outside the three of them sat for a few minutes before David arrived. Once he arrived he stepped out of his car and helped Joyce get in, Max and Chloe put the few bags they had into the trunk and then got in the backseat of the car.

Joyce said "It is so nice to be going home."

David responded "It is good to see you out of that hospital." He took a moment to gather his thoughts then he asked "By the way I thought you two said that Blackwell did not get hit that bad?"

The photographer asked "What do you mean?"

David replied "I got a chance to go there the other day and the inside is wrecked it is going to take weeks to get that fixed. Not to mention that the dorms are not exactly in the best shape, that being said they are still habitable I guess but might not be the best place for most to stay right now." As they approached a red light he looked in his rearview mirror at Max and asked "Have you given any thought as to where you are going to stay Max?"

The brunette hesitantly answered "I was planning on staying with Joyce and Chloe."

"I see." David simply replied.

After hearing his tone Chloe asked "That is not going to be a problem is it?" Joyce turned around and shot her daughter a look that told her she did not agree with how she asked that question. "What mom I had to ask because of the way he sounded."

Letting out a sigh David told her "No it is not a problem Chloe, I was simply asking a question. I suppose I do see as how I did make it sound like I did not agree but that is not how I was aiming it to sound." He decided to take a moment to think his thoughts through before saying anything else to the punk or her girlfriend. David then remembered that he actually had some good news for Chloe. "By the way Chloe tomorrow I have a friend from another town over coming in to tow your truck back to the house for us."

This came as a surprise to Chloe. Was David actually trying to do something nice for her. She hesitantly said "Um, thanks." The four of them rode in silence for the rest of the ride back to the Price house.

* * *

As they entered the house Joyce began to walk through the house, as she entered the living room she saw the cracks in the walls and ceiling and the covered broken windows. She stated "Oh my house, at least this is all that happened to it. But it will need to get fixed."

Chloe said "It is ok mom we can worry about that later let's just enjoy being home for now."

Joyce replied "You are right sweetie."

Max told her "It is ok Joyce we will get it fixed."

David spoke up "Ok ladies I will be back shortly."

Joyce called out "Where are you going."

David told her "I am going to go to the next town over and get two pizzas for dinner." He stepped out of the front door as he said this.

When David left Joyce decided to go inspect the rest of the house. Max decided to go and check on Alice and feed her. As Max entered Chloe's room she knelt down to the rabbits cage next to the door and played with the rabbit by wiggling her fingers through the cage, she then went to grab a carrot from a comparment in Chloe's desk where they were keeping Alice's food. As Max began to feed Alice Chloe entered the room and shut the door, she then made her way over to her desk and removed the cardboard from the window and began to light a cigarette. The punk took a long inhale from the cigarette then exhaled the plume of smoke slowly out of the window. The punk looked at Max and told her "Sorry, I just needed one you know."

Max replied "It is ok Chloe I understand, Thank you for blowing the smoke out of the window though."

"So how is the little fuzz ball doing?" Chloe asked while taking another drag off her cigarette.

The brunette responded "She is doing fine it seems. But what about you? How are you doing?"

A little confused the punk asks back "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? You know after everything you have been through, Like are you sure that you are ok after all of that shit? Speaking of said messed up shit do you want to talk about any of it?"

Immediately Max was flooded with memories of the dark room and other timelines she had been to. She just sat there with a blank expression on her face until she was brought back to reality by Chloe lightly shaking her. Max told her "Sorry I spaced out there, Chloe I have been through a number of things.  
Some of which happened in another reality entirely. On top of that I had suffer through Jefferson's damn dark room. I just have been through so much so quickly that I am not even sure how to explain it all. If it is ok with you I do not want to talk about it all at once, maybe just going at it in segments will help."

"Whatever is easiest for you Max. I am here for you." The blue haired girl told her.

Max then began "Well I guess let's start with the reality I created where I saved William."

Chloe said "You told me a little about that but not much."

The brunette began again "Well I went back through a photo and stopped him by throwing his keys out the window so he had to take the bus. But later they gave you a truck as a birthday present but you got in a bad wreck and it praylizeyd you from the neck down. I ended up in the vortex club and was even friends with Victoria apparently I was a huge bitch. But I went to your house and saw you in that wheel chair and I broke down into tears on the spot. We spent a whole day together and at the end of it you asked me to end your life. But I could not do it. I could not do it because it hurt me so much to even think about hurting you but I knew you were in pain but I just could not do it."

Letting out a small gasp Chloe said "I am so sorry that you had to go through that. I am sorry that the other me asked you to do that. But I have a hard time imagining you as a huge bitch." This got a small chuckle out of both girls. "So how was it seeing my dad again?"

Max stated "It was... I am not too sure how to describe it. It was nice but also strange. I was my thirteen year old self again. But when I went back in time he still seemed the same but just drowning in debt. I am sorry that I could not get you to see him again."

* * *

As David entered the house and sat the pizzas down at the table he called out "Ok I am back and have a large meat lovers and a large supreme."

Joyce was the first to enter and told him "Thank you for getting diner David."

Max and Chloe then both entered and their mouths began to water at the smell of the pizzas. Max herself decided to eat from the supreme pizza, Joyce herself decided that as well. David ate from the meat lovers and as for Chloe she was eating from both. They mostly sat in silence while they ate.

* * *

While Max was helping Joyce put the leftovers away and clean the dishes David sat next to Chloe and decide to try and talk with her. David asked "So you and Max are together now?"

The punk replied "Yup we are."

He asked "Do you mind if I ask how this came about?"

Confused Chloe shot back "Is this going to be a problem? Where is this even coming from?"

Seeing as how he might have upset her David told her "No it is not a problem, is it too hard to believe that I am just interested in the things going on in my step-daughter's life?"

"I guess not." The blue haired girl hesitantly responded. "Well it just kind of happened honestly. We watched the storm hit together and we were just there for each other. We have been through so much together we just decided to give it a go I suppose."

He told her "Well I have not known Max for that long but she seems like a good person."

Chloe said "Yeah, she is."

* * *

As Max was helping Joyce she asked "So how are you doing now that you are back home?"

Joyce replied "Oh I am better now. It is just nice to be back."

"Thanks for letting me stay here by the way." The brunette said.

Joyce told her "It is no problem Max. You are always welcome here. By the way how is it going with your parents?"

Letting out a sigh the photographer responded "Well they are not happy they still want me to go back to Seattle with them. But my dad understands to some degree at least."

Joyce said "I am sorry that must be hard on you."

Max replied "It is but I am happy that I am here."

Joyce then got a serious look on her face after a moment she asked "Max how are you doing sweetie?"

Max hated this question at this point. So many people have asked that same question over the past few days and it is hard to answer when Chloe is the only person who knows about what she has been through. "I am fine just still adjusting I suppose."

Joyce told her "Well if you ever want to talk about anything I am here for you."


	11. Trying to get Along

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 11: Trying to get Along**

 **Author's Note: I know you guys are probably tired of hearing about this but this is now my most viewed story so thank you. Within a few months this story has surpassed my most viewed that took three years to get 3000 views so thank you. Also we have hit 40000 words in this story, I honestly did not expect to get this far.**

 **Also thanks for another review Nick M I did not address it in the last chapter because it showed up after I posted it.**

* * *

It was a little after eight in the morning when Chloe heard David yelling "Chloe get up now! We have to head out in ten minutes!" The blue haired punk rubbed her eyes and looked at the brunette girl who was now also waking up.

"Sorry about step-ass waking you up." Chloe told Max.

After letting out a yawn Max responded "That is ok, he is just trying to help you get your truck back here so you can get it running again."

The punk replied "I know but he did not have to wake you up."

The brunette said "Really it is fine."

Since he got no response David yelled again "CHLOE!"

It was too early in the morning for his shit Chloe thought to herself. She begrudgingly got up and opened her door and took a step out of her room to look down the stairs and shout back at him "Ok I am up damn! Give me like five minutes! You do not have to wake everybody up you know!" She then turned around and slammed her door shut after she walked back in. Letting out a quick sigh she looked at Max and told her "I am going to miss you while I am gone."

After a sigh of her own Max responded "I will miss you to, but it will only be for a little while."

The blue haired punk then began to rummage through her closet to get some cloths to change into. As she began to undress she noticed that Max looked away out of shyness. "You can watch. I do not mind."

The brunette girl responded "Um Chloe is that not a bit much."

"I'm sorry babe." The punk told her. She then finished getting dressed and gave Max a quick kiss before she left her room. As she saw David standing at the bottom of the steps she begun to stomp down the stairs just to agitate him.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs David grunted "Was that really necessary?"

"Was you waking up my sexy ass girlfriend really necessary?" The punk shot back.

The security guard told her "Well I had to get you up somehow."

Chloe replied "Well you somehow made that happen actually. Well let's get this shit underway."

* * *

The two of them rode in silence to where Chloe's truck broke down. Chloe herself pondered the thought if she should say anything to her step father but could not think of anything that she wanted to say. David himself on the other hand had a few things he wanted to talk about but was unsure as to how to bring it up to Chloe without her lashing out at him. When they finally did arrive Chloe noticed that his friend was not there yet. "Yo where is this guy at?"

David said "He will be here in a few."

The punk then asked "Ok then why did we leave so early if he was not even going to be here?"

Letting out a sigh the he told her "Well he is coming from a town over so it will take him some time. Besides Chloe we need to talk."

"Oh boy I knew it, you just have to give me shit don't you?" The blue haired girl stated.

After another sigh David told her "Calm down Chloe, I just think we both need to discuss somethings that is all."

Seing as how there would be no getting out of this the punk replied "Whatever let's get this over with."

After a moment David hesitantly began "First off let me say that I am sorry about what happened to Rachel."

Chloe shot an angry glare at David and told him "Before you continue I do not want to hear any shit about Rachel she did not deserve what happened."

"I was not trying to talk bad about her." He then began to rub the back of his neck. "I know that this is a touchy subject but I felt that I needed to tell you that, and no she did not deserve what happened to her."

The punk was beginning to feel tears forming in her eyes. She did not like showing this kind emotion in front of people especially David. "No she did not, but let's drop it ok I do not want to talk about this right now."

David could clearly tell that this was a sore subject for Chloe. In an attempt to change the mod he said "I understand. Since it will be a bit mind if we pop the hood to see what is wrong with your truck?"

"Alright fine." Was all Chloe could manage to get out at the moment. As she got out of David's car she rummaged through her pockets to get her keys to open her truck door. Once she did she pulled the lever to pop the hood up. David had gotten out at this point and was lifting the hood of the truck up.  
Chloe came around and they both sat there for a minute to examine what looked to be wrong with the truck.

This was new to Chloe was David actually being sincere. "Uh, thanks."

He replied "No problem, but it does look like the engine took a beating but I should be able to figure something out. The alternator also is shot. Other than that it is mostly a few loose things nothing else really serious seems to have happened. We might me able to have it running again in a few days."

The punk told him "Ok that sounds good." But there was one thing on her mind that she had to get out. "Just so you know there is one thing we need to talk about."

"And what would that be?" David turned and asked.

Chloe looked him straight in the eye and said "Just so you know I will not and I mean never put up with you ever trying to hit me again. I know it has been awhile since you last tried but I will be damned if I ever let you hit me again. Do you understand me?"

Hearing this David took a moment to think and let out a sigh. "Chloe, I never wanted to hit you. You just pushed me so far and I lost it. I am sorry."

The punk shot back "That does not matter. Yes I pushed you really hard but that gives you no right to just hit me. I will try to not be as hard on you but like I said don't ever fucking try to hit me again."

He knew that this was defiantly something he should have never done but he was not sure what ever came over him he did deeply regret ever hitting her but knew that she would never forgive him as she most probably shouldn't. "You are right all I can say is that I am sorry."

After realizing the time the punk asked "Yo when is this guy going to get here? I am starting to miss Max."

David looked up and said "You two are really close now huh?"

"Don't even go there man." Chloe said with a louder tone. "Do not even start with your shit about me and her, we really do not need that right now."

Letting out yet another sigh David told her "Chloe I was not about to start with my shit. Besides I know you wouldnlt listen anyway but I am not going to give you any shit."

After a few moment Chloe spoke up "You know she is the one to convince me to try to give you another chance."

This came as a surprise to him. "Really? Even thought she was with you and Joyce to throw me out?"

The punk stated "Believe it or not yes she did convince me. Also she actually does like you to some degree I think. She just agrees in the fact that you are to paranoid and go way overboard with your damn surveillance."

David replied "I know, I do know that I go a bit far with that. I am going to try to cut back on it." A moment later a tow truck pulled up and the driver honked his horn. "Well he is here finally, let's help him get this thing loaded up then head back to the house."

"Ok yeah let's do that." The blue haired girl said.

* * *

A few minutes into the car ride back to the house David asked "So how are you holding up?"

Not too sure what he was asking Chloe asked "I'm sorry what?"

He asked again "You know, how are you holding up? After everything. I know you do not want to talk about it but."

"No you are right I do not want to talk about it!" Chloe said in a loud tone.

After a few moments of silence David said "I just want you to know that I have been through the loss of people you care about. I just want you to know that if you want to talk about it I might be able to help you is all."

The punk told him "Dude I have been through loss myself remember. My dad died five years ago ok, I know damn good well what it is like to go through the loss of someone you love ok." Chloe really wanted this conversation to end especially since it brought up her father. In fact she never really talked about her dad passing with anyone but her mother.

The two drove in silence for another minute or so before David spoke up. "You know you never really talk about him."

In a stern voice Chloe replied "And I sure don't want to right now."

"Why is that?" David asked.

The punk told him "Because I only talk about him with a very select few people that I trust, and you are not one of those people."

Taking a moment to think he responded "I see, I understand though. Is Max one of these people you trust?"

After a moment the blue haired girl said "Yes, as a matter of fact she is. Mom is the other one."

David could hear the irritation in her voice so he asked "Do you mind if I ask how you know Max?"

A small smile came over Chloe as she told him. "We met a long time ago. We were like really little but we hit it off instantly. Me and my dad went to the two whales to meet mom and while we were there Max and her parents came in. Max was so shy even back then. Any way a few minutes after they came in her mom went to the bathroom and her dad was going to get her some candy from the gumball machine for after their meal or something. But some kid went over and started making fun of her and she started to cry, for some random reason I felt compelled to go and push the kid away and we started talking after that and became friends. We did everything together."

David told her "She seems special to you."

"Yeah she is." The punk stated.

A moment later David said "I can see why you trust her then, hopefully one day you will trust me." Hearing this brought back one of the worst memories Chloe had of David.

* * *

A few months after Joyce had married David he had come home one afternoon and heard loud music blasting from Chloe's room. As he knocked on the door he got no response. He knocked a few more times and still nothing. So after a number of attempts he decided to just enter her room. As he did he saw her with her back turned writing something on her wall. He moved over to the high-fi and turned the music off. Once he did this Chloe turned around and yelled "What the fuck man?"

In a stern voice David told her "Do not use that language young lady."

"Whatever you are not even my real father you cannot tell me what to do." The young girl told him.

Trying to keep his calm he replied "I know that Chloe and I am not trying to replace him."

Chloe shot back "Good so then get the hell out."

David could tell he was getting nowhere with Chloe and that she really did not like him. But she did not need to talk to people that way either. "Now listen here and you listesn good. I know that you have been through a lot in a very short time. All of that loss can be difficult to deal with. But that is no way to talk to anyone do you understand me."

At this point Chloe was really agitated that David had not left the room yet. She told him "You listen I do not give a damn ok. You know nothing about me. And you sure as hell no nothing about my dad or losing him. I don't even see why my mother bothers with you. She clearly did not love my dad that much since she married you so soon after he died. I know it has been almost two years but still. I just wish you would get the hell out of my..."  
At this point there was a sudden loud smack noise that radiated around the room. Chloe brought a hand up to her left cheek as it stung from the sudden contact. Her eyes began to water and she ran past David out of her room. Once she was in the hallway she turned and told him "You really are not my father. He would never have done anything like that."

As Chloe began to run again David sat down in shock of what he had just done. He said aloud "Damn it, what have I just done?" He thought to himself I did not want to hit her. What came over me? She just pushed me so far and I snapped.

* * *

Chloe was snapped out of her trip down memory lane by David snapping his fingers in front of her. She shook her head and looked around. David said "Are you ok? You have been staring off into space for about fifteen minutes. We already got the ruck in the garage and everything."

The punk replied "Yeah sorry just thinking about something that happened a long time ago."

He asked "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really." Chloe told him. She looked at the clock on her phone and noticed that it was late in the morning almost afternoon. "Hey do you mind if I get some food before we start?"

David replied "Sure go ahead. I could use some myself."

As Chloe entered the house she was immediately wanting to go find Max and see what she was up to.


	12. Like a Second Mother

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 12: Like a Second Mother**

 **Author's note: jackiechallis thanks for letting me know you are enjoying this story.**

 **Wash Hobbs I am glad you enjoyed my little attempt to see how two people like that might be around each other while trying to mend things. Also sorry about any grammatical or formatting errors I try to find as many as I can and fix but some just get past me sorry about that.**

* * *

Shortly after Chloe and David left Max found herself wondering what to do to occupy her time. She messed around on her phone for a few minutes,  
checking on people through social media and seeing what they were up to but found that nothing was going on with anyone. At first she thought about maybe looking around Chloe's room some more but decided against it. She then herd Joyce making noise downstairs and decided to go and she what she was up to.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to enter the living room she saw Joyce coming in from the back yard. "Morning Joyce."

The woman turned and looked at Max and said "Good morning sweetie. Did I wake you up?"

"No you did not. In fact Chloe woke me up when David was yelling for her." Max replied.

Letting out a sigh Joyce asked "What am I going to do with that girl?"

Letting out a small chuckle the brunette told her "It is fine Joyce, I needed to wake up any way. How are you doing this morning?"

After a moment Joyce replied "I am ok. I just got done in the backyard, sometimes I go back there to think for a moment. With everything that has happened recently I just needed to take a moment that is all."

After a sigh the photographer exclaimed "I know how that feels. There is just some times when I need the world to stop for a while so I can just sit for a moment to think."

Joyce said "You know this past few days I have had a number of moments like that. Did you know that William would sneak off to the backyard sometimes to just think. It was not often but I did find him a few times. He always did seem like he had an answer for anything though. I miss him,  
not a day goes by that I do not think about him. If only I did not call him to give me a ride home that day. It is my fault that he is not here anymore, hell I know Chloe believes that as well."

Max told her "It was not your fault Joyce. You could not have known what was going to happen. Also I know that Chloe does not believe that."

The older woman asked "How can you be so sure?"

"Well for one thing, she did tell me that she believes that it is William's fault." Max answered.

After hearing that Joyce had to take a moment to gather her thoughts. "Why does she think that? And why has she never told me this?"

Max herself needed a moment to try to think of how to answer that question. "Well in all honesty I do not think she really knows herself. We have only talked about this situation briefly but from what I can tell it just hit her so hard that she never really was able to cope with what happened. So she just decided to bottle it all up inside and take it out on everyone and that is just her taking some of it out on him. I do not think that she really believes that he wanted to have what happened transpire but because she was so young when it happened that is just how she is coping with it."

Taking a moment to sigh Joyce responded "Well that may be true but she should not think that he wanted to die."

The photographer said "From what I can tell everything over the past five years have just hit her really hard."

Joyce replied "That they have. My baby girl has been through so much these past five years. I wanted to help her so bad but she just shut me and the rest of the world out. But she has seemed different since you came back into her life. She actually smiles and laughs again. Max you make my Chloe so happy and for that I am grateful."

While rubbing the back of her neck Max responded "Well we both went through so much together last week and have been so happy to be back together that we..." Max was cut short but Joyce grabbing her with her arm that was not in a cast and pulling her in for a hug.

As she was hugging Max Joyce exclaimed "It is ok sweetie I do not need any explanation. I am just happy that you are back and making her happy. I just want you to know that you are always welcome here, and I love you like you were my own daughter."

After she had been let go Max said "Thank you Joyce. I really appreciate that. I just wished that my mom supported me and Chloe being together like you do."

Letting out a sigh Joyce told her "I am sure in time she will Max."

"I hope so." Max replied. "I hope you don't find this corny but I have at time felt that you were like a second mother to me."

Somewhat confused Joyce replied "Max I just told you that you are like a second daughter to me why would I find that corny."

The photographer had to take a moment to think about how she wanted to say what she was thinking. "Well I mean you just said that and I was thinking of telling you that so I do not know I just thought it would sound corny.

Joyce told her "Well I do not think it is corny." After a moment of silence Joyce had an idea of something to do. "Hey I know it may not be fun but do you mind helping me clean up a little I could use the help."

"Sure Joyce." Max answered.

* * *

The two of them cleaned for about thirty minutes. Most of what was cleaned was moving the furniture back from where it had been shifted to, and placing the picture frames back on the wall that had fell. There was also some clutter of things here and there that they had moved around and sorted through.  
Eventually Joyce said "I'm not sure about you but I could use some food, unfortunately all we have is some cereal at the moment."

Max said "That is fine and yes I could use some food."

After they had both fixed them self's a bowl of cereal the two of them sat down at the dining room table. The two ate in silence for a few minutes before Joyce finally broke the silence. "In all seriousness how are you doing?"

In a confused tone Max asked back "What do you mean?"

Joyce stated "Well how are you handling things in general? This past week and a half have been a lot on everyone. I am just seeing how you are doing.  
It seems you especially have been through a lot this week, I can see it in your eyes."

Max thought to herself does she know about my powers? There is no way right? How could she? I am being ridiculous, all she wants to know is how I am holding up after last week... right? "Well like you said a lot did happen last week. First me and Chloe reunited. Then we began looking into what happened to Rachel and found out a whole lot of what happened and was going on. Turns out I had a crazy person for a teacher. Also a giant damn storm came through and hit the town really bad. But on top of all of that me and Chloe found out that we had feelings for each other. Then when we tell my parents my dad seems ok with it but my mom just looses it."

In an attempt to calm her down Joyce said "It is ok Max I did not mean to upset you."

"Sorry Joyce, I did not mean to have an outburst like that." The photographer exclaimed.

Joyce said "That is ok I understand, you have been through a lot in a short time. At the same time you are finding yourself so I understand that this is a difficult time for you."

Max replied "Thank you Joyce, I just have a lot on my mind right now."

The older woman asked "Do you want to talk about any of it?"

The photographer told her "Maybe when I clear my head some. For now I just need some down time." Max suddenly began to feel very light headed, and somewhat nauseous. "I am sorry Joyce for some reason I do not feel very well right now, can we continue this later."

Seeing how Max was beginning to look Joyce said "Sure sweetie. Do you need anything?"

As she got up to make a dash for Chloe's room Max told her "No I just need to lie down." As she rushed up the stairs to Chloe's room she began to feel very sick in her stomach. Once she had made it into the room and shut the door she collapesed onto the floor.

As soon as she heard the thud of something from upstairs Joyce got up and made her way to Chloe's bedroom door. She knocked on the door and called out to Max but got no response. After a few more attempts with no reply she opened the door finding it a bit hard to actually open the door. Once she had it opened just enough to stick her head in she saw Max laying on the floor unconscious. "MAX!" Joyce called out but got no response. She forced the door open just enough to get in. After a bit of a struggle to roll Max over she did and saw that her nose was bleeding. Joyce immediately went to grab a rag and soak in in cold water. With the rag in hand she went back to Max and knelt down beside her. She lifted Max's head onto her knee and put the rag on her nose. She heard the front door open moments later and heard David saying something to Chloe so she called out to them "CHLOE, DAVID GET UP HERE."


	13. Sorrow

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 13: Sorrow**

 **Author's note: tur1823: Thanks for the review and I am glad you are enjoying the story.**

 **Wash Hobbs: Thank you for the encouragement also thanks for pointing out the double she statement. At the time it made sense in my mind but I see now that it should have been worded different to signify that Max was going to check on Joyce.**

* * *

"CHLOE, DAVID GET UP HERE NOW!" Was what both Chloe and David heard Joyce yell moments after they had entered the house. Since the panic was clear in her mother's tone Chloe sprinted up the stairs, David followed suit.

Upon reaching the door Chloe yelped "OH MY GOD, MAX!" She then rushed over and knelt down beside Max and grabbed her hand. The punk looked to her mother "What happened?"

Joyce told her "I do not know. We were down stairs talking then she started to feel unwell and came up here. After she left the table I heard a thud a few moments later and came up here and found her like this." David had reached the door at this point and was assessing the situation.

"MAX! Wake up Max." The punk told the unconscious brunette."

David spoke up "Ok first off we need to remain calm."

Chloe snapped back at him "Fuck you! Who knows what happened to her."

He told the punk "Chloe I was not trying to upset you but if we want to help her we need to remain calm. Mass panic will not help."

"Whatever how can I not panic right now?" Chloe asked.

Her mother told her "Chloe he is right. Right now we need to just try to make sure that Max is ok."

David then knelt down and took over for Joyce. A few moments later he spoke up "We should probably try to move her to the bed." The two of them began to slowly lift Max off the floor and move her to the bed. Moments after the set her down her head began to shake some but looked like it was a twitch like something was just making her mover her head a little from side to side, then her lips began to quiver.

* * *

Max awoke on the floor and slowly pushed herself up off the floor. She thought to herself that she must have been really tired if she did not make it to the bed. She heard some faint noises coming from downstairs so she decided to go and see what Joyce was up to and to see if Chloe had got back yet.  
When Max had made it downstairs she was surprised to see that it was not Joyce but her mother. "Mom? What are you doing here?"

Looking up at her daughter Vanessa asked "What do you mean Maxine? You know that I am here to take you home."

The photographer was upset that not only did her mother use her full name but she was talking about taking her home again. "Mom you know that it is Max, never Maxine. Also we have been through this. I am not leaving I am staying with Chloe."

Her mother stated "Sweetie there is nothing else left for you here."

Max snapped back "Stop saying that."

Vanessa stated "We all know it was you who caused that storm. Do you really think you can stay here after that?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Max asked.

Her mother told her "Max do not try to play dumb with me. Like I said we all know it was you with your time powers."

Even more confused now Max asked "Even if that is true how do you even know about that?"

Vanessa then told her "You really don't know do you?" Then she laughed for a moment. "Let me explain then." Max's mom then began to slowly turn into something Max had really come to dislike at this point, Max was now staring at herself again. "See it is me silly, welcome back."

Max stated out loud in a frustrated voice "Oh great I am back with you again."

The other Max exclaimed "That is right."

Max asked "So what is it that you want?"

The other Max told her "Oh nothing really, it is what you want. What you need, and what you need is to feel the weight of what all you have caused."

In an angry voice Max snapped back "Do you really think that I do not feel bad at all about what has happened because of that damn storm?"

The other Max looked up with a small smirk and said "Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. But either way I will make sure you do after this." The other Max then grabbed her and she began to see images of all the people who did not survive the storm. Images of them before the storm then during and finally after. Max now had tears rolling down her face. Even if she closed her eyes she saw all of these images. There was even images of people who survived but got hurt like Warren, Joyce and Frank. As her other self removed her hands Max fell to her knees.

Max asked "Why the hell are you doing this?"

The other Max replied "Like I said I am making sure you feel something about this."

"Well I already told you I do feel bad that they did not make it and others got hurt." The photographer said.

The other Max told her well this is to just make sure." The images then began to reappear in Max's eyes again. She curled up into a ball and kept crying all while seeing what has happened.

* * *

Max awoke instantly rising up into a sitting position. She turned to her left and saw Chloe moving from her desk to her. Chloe said "Max you are awake.  
What happened?"

With tears running down her face Max replied "I passed out and the other me in my mind showed up and went on showing me images of the people who did not survive the storm. All because she feels that I do not feel bad about them."

The punk told her "That is messed up I know you feel bad about it. I can tell be looking in your eyes."

The brunette responded "Apparently the other me does not agree." She then hugged Chloe tight and was weeping into her left shoulder. After a few minutes she asked "How long was I out?"

The punk replied "About two hours now, mom has been worried sick."

"Oh boy I have no idea what to tell her. I cannot possibly tell her what is really wrong." Max told the punk.

Chloe said "Well she might believe that you have been having a lack of sleep due to what all has happened recently and you just passed out. As for the nose bleed you did seem like you might have landed on your face when you fell."

Letting out a small giggle Max said "I guess that would be worth a try."

The blue haired girl asked "What is so funny?"

The brunette responded "It is just that even though the storm has passed it seems that it still is not done with me."

Chloe confusingly said "I really don't see how that is funny."

Max said "I suppose we should go and let Joyce know that I am ok."

The two of them began to slowly make their way down the stairs. Max was still feeling a little light headed so she was just being extra careful. As they reached the bottom of the stairs the turned and saw Joyce at the dining room table with her head down. When the two reached the table Joyce looked up and exclaimed "Max! You are awake. Are you ok?"

After a moment and a small sigh Max told the older woman "I think I am ok now Just a little light headed. I have not been getting much sleep the past week with what all has happened I guess that it just caught up to me."

Joyce said "Well it is good to see that you seem fine. But when David gets back I still think that you should go and see a doctor you were bleeding pretty bad from your nose."

"I do not think that will be necessary." Max tried to tell Joyce.

Chloe spoke up "Actually I think mom is right."

Before Max could rebuke Joyce said "Max sweetie we just want to be sure that you are ok. Please do not try to fight us on this. Especially since Chloe seems to be on my side for once."

Chloe said "Hey I am trying to do better ok. But you are right I do think Max should have a doctor make sure that she is ok."

Seeing that she would not win Max said "Ok I will go."


	14. Troubled State of Mind

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 14: Troubled State of Mind**

* * *

It was now the middle of the afternoon when Max, Chloe and Joyce had made it to the hospital to get Max check out after her incident earlier. As they entered they noticed that it was not as busy as it was the last week but still had a good amount of things happening within still. It took them about five minutes to fill out some paper work and another ten to finally get to see a doctor in a room. As the doctor entered the room Chloe called out "Hey you are Dr. Bagwell right? We met you the day of the storm."

Dr. Bagwell said "That is correct. I remember you now you are friends of Kate Marsh, am I right?"

"Yes I go to school with her." Max told him.

The doctor asked "Well what seems to be the problem today? How can I help?"

The brunette told him "Well earlier today I had passed out and my nose began to bleed a good bit as well. But what was weird was that this just came out of nowhere."

Joyce spoke up "It may not seem like much but it seems like something worth getting checked out."

After a moment of silence the doctor asked "Were you hurt during the storm and or examined afterwards?"

Max answered "I was not injured during the storm and I did not get check out either."

Dr. Bagwell then asked "Ok have you been eating enough and drinking enough fluids?"

"Yes." The brunette told him.

Taking a moment for more consideration the doctor then said "How have you been feeling lately?"

Max stated "To be honest I was fine until a week ago. Every now and then I get these head pains and feel light headed. My nose also bleeds from time to time as well."

"I see." Dr. Bagwell said. "Do you have any previous medical history I should know about?"

Max replied "No."

The doctor took a few notes and stated "Well I will need to do a few tests to see if there is anything wrong."

* * *

Chloe and her mother had to wait outside while the tests were being done. Neither one really liked that they had to wait outside but they understood. As they sat down in the waiting room Joyce asked "So how did it go with David this morning?"

"It went ok I suppose." Chloe answered.

Her mother asked "Was there a fight between you two?"

The blue haired girl responded "No we did not. To be honest I just mostly contemplated things while we were gone."

Joyce said "I see."

Chloe said "If you don't mind I really do not have it in me to talk about anything else right now."

Her mother told her "I understand sweetie, it will be ok. I am sure they will help Max. Do you know if this has been going on long with her?"

The punk responded "I do not think so I have not noticed it." But in the back of her mind Chloe had to wonder if this had anything to do with Max's ability to rewind but could not tell her mother that. "If you must know though, what is really bothering me is that I am worried that something terrible will happen and end up taking Max away from me like it did with dad and Rachel."

"Oh sweetie." Joyce exclaimed. "I understand that you have had it bad these past few years I really do. But you can't think like that hon. It is not good for you. On top of that Max came back. I am sure this will be fine and she will be ok."

The punk replied "I know mom but... life has just been so rough I do not know if I can take another loss like that."

Joyce told her daughter "Chloe if there is one thing I have learned in life, it is that life can be unfair at times, hell it can even be downright hard to get through. But it can also be good and joyous. A big part of life is learning to deal with the bad that it throws at you. It can be bad but it is not about how bad it is. It is about how bad it can get and how you can keep on going and push through the bad to see the light of day for the good as well."

With tears in her eyes Chloe looked at her mother and told her "I get that. But life has thrown so much shit at me it is ridiculous."

Her mother responded "Do not worry we will get through this, and we will help Max get through whatever it is with her as well." Chloe then moved over to give her mother a big hug and cried into her shoulder. Joyce was surprised at this amount of emotion coming from her daughter. It had been some time since she has seen Chloe like this. Joyce wrapped her arms around her daughter and hugged her back.

* * *

After Chloe and her mother left the room the doctor gathered a few things then moved over to Max. The doctor asked "How long has this been going on?"

After a moment Max answered "Only recently. A week before the storm I had a few nose bleeds and only one or two times I felt lightheaded."

"I see. Ok please keep your eyes open for me." The doctor then shined a light in one of Max's eyes to examine it then did the same to the other. "Has this ever happened before?"

The brunette told him "No. Like I said this all started only recently."

Dr. Bagwell said "Ok well to see what might be wrong we need to do a cat scan, which we can get done here momentarily if you want. Before that though I need to do some blood work."

Max hesitantly said "Oh, ok."

The doctor then moved to a nearby shelf and grabbed a small syringe to draw some blood. As he turned and approached Max her eyes widened and she began to instinctively back away. Images of Jefferson with his doses flooded her mind. As she rose her right arm in a defensive manner she heard the doctor say "It is ok Max. I see you are afraid of needles but please do not be afraid of me. I will only last a moment."

"I'm sorry." Max said quietly.

The doctor noticed the look in Max's eyes though, he had to ask "Max I have to ask, has something happened to you in the past?"

Shocked Max asked "What? What do you mean?"

Dr. Bagwell responded "I have seen many of people with a fear of needles. But none of them have back away in fear like that before. Also the look in your eyes was one of someone who has been through something traumatic."

The brunette responded "I am sorry I am just very easily frightened. I am ok, nothing has happened." She thought to herself however that there is no way she could tell him about what happened in the dark room. Especially since she technically not been there in this timeline. But it did not change the fact that she was there.

As the doctor drew some blood to be tested Max winced at the pain from the needle. Shortly after that she got ready for the cat scan. The process took about twenty minutes. As the test was going the doctor made some notes about what he saw and tried to come to a conclusion about what could possibly be wrong.

When the scan was finished and the doctor entered the room he asked "The other two women can be here to hear the results if you want, or you can tell them yourself if you want.

Max told him "You can go ahead and let them in. I know Joyce will have questions you can answer better than me anyways." The doctor gave her a small nod then left the room. Max braced herself for what he could have found out. When the door opened Chloe went straight to Max and grabbed her right hand. Joyce went and stood to her left. Dr. Bagwell then closed the door behind them once he entered the room.

Joyce asked "So what did you find out?"

Dr. Bagwell pick up his clip board and cleared his throat, "Well to be honest I am not entirely sure. As the cat scan went it showed that she has recently had a massive amount of brain activity. But for the time being has not had nearly as much."

Max asked "Is that a good or bad thing?"

The doctor answered "Well from what I have gathered you have been experiencing this due to massive stress and possibly some sort of mental trauma. From what it seems like your brain was close to having an anyrsism but did not quite make it to that point."

Joyce called out "Oh my lord."

The doctor continued "The main thing to do now is to keep your stress down and try to relax. Whatever it is that is bothering you seems to be going for your mental state."

The brunette spoke up "Ok thank you doctor. I will do the best I can to keep my stress down."

Joyce asked "How did something like this happen?"

Dr. Bagwell answered "To be honest I do not have an answer for you. Max?"

Max said "I really do not know myself."

Joyce spoke up "Well we will have to make sure you take it easy for a while."

* * *

The three of them rode home with mostly Joyce asking a question here and there. When the made it back to the house and entered Joyce told the girls "Ok girls I am going to go explain everything to David then get to work on fixing dinner."

As she walked away the girls made their way back to Chloe's room. Once they were inside and the door was shut Chloe sat down on her bed. Max looked at Chloe and told her "Ok Chloe you have been very quiet since you entered the hospital room. What is on your mind?"

The blue haired girl sat there in silence for a few moments before she spoke up. "Max be honest with me, Have you used your powers since the storm?"

Shocked Max asked back "Chloe how could you even ask me that?"

"Well, have you?" Chloe responded.

Max replied "No! I have not. Anything else you do not believe me on?"

The punk answered "Well I had to know. Because you only ever passed out like that when you over used you powers so I began to worry when I saw you passed out like that. I am sorry but I just had to be sure."

The shorter girl told her "Ugh. I guess I understand that. I am sorry you had to worry like that. But I really do have no idea what happened. I do have to tell you though... my mind has been messing with me the past few days."

Chloe asked "What do you mean?"

Max told her "Well when I passed out on the way to the lighthouse during the storm my conscious made another form of me that was showing me all of the bad and self-doubt within me and trying to convince me that I am completely evil in everything. But the past few days she has been back in nightmare making me hate myself. I am trying to resist it but she just keeps coming back."

"Oh Max." Chloe said. "That sounds hella bad."

The brunette said "It is." The two both sighed then sat there in silence for a few minutes. Neither one really knew what to say after that. After a little bit Max finally broke the silence "I am afraid I might be losing my mind."

The punk replied "You know you could try my weed. It might help. I sure know it helps me calm down and not over use my mind, most of the time."

Max responded "I am being serious here."

Chloe said "I know sorry. But you could if you want to."

Seeing as how Chloe was joking but also maybe somewhat serious Max sighed "I know but I do not think that will help right now. Besides that needs to be the last thing I deal with right now."

"Sorry not trying to force anything on you." The punk said.

Max moved over to the desk and sat down in the chair and said "I just need everything to stop for awhile."

Chloe told her "I hear that. You have been through a hella amount of shit this past so many days you deserve a break."


	15. Downtime

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

Chapter 15: Downtime

 **Guest and narutoz8 : Thank you for letting me know that you are enjoying this so far.**

 **GrumpyCat42: Again thanks for the constructive criticism. I do realize that I went too far down a path that I knew nothing about with the whole medical drama stuff. I will admit that I knew nothing about it and kind of wish I went a different path but I started down it so wanted to see it through even though I knew it would be bad. As for the wording in areas to me it did look fine but that is because I mostly do these really late at night. Also as for the weed would help Max destress comment, as true as that may be in my story Max is still self-conscious and nervous so she is still hesitant about things so naturally she would not be so willing to give that a try. Also I have never personally tried weed and as for my last experience writing about something I know nothing about I think that show I should stay away. But I have been around some friends who have and I have seen some get stressed out really bad from it so I do know that it affects different people differently. Finally as for the fact that I always state who is talking that is because I personally have a problem where if it never informs me who is talking I will eventually lose track of who is saying what and when and it starts to mess with my mind. I will try to improve on this and change how most sentences start.**

 **Author's Note: Just a heads up this entire chapter is from Chloe's POV.**

* * *

It was now mid-morning and I have now been awake for about an hour now. I knew that Joyce had to go for a checkup this morning so the doctors could see how her arm was doing and so that would mean that David would be with her for most of the morning. Man we stayed up so late last night watching movies and cuddling, I should probably let Max sleep in some more before I wake her up. I think I will go sit on the roof outside my window and have a smoke.

As I quietly exited my windows as to not wake Max up the thought crossed my mind again about how I really should try to quit. I know it bothers her that I smoke but when she was not here I did not care about it. But now I want to stop to help better myself for her. She deserves so much better.  
As I light my cigarette I could not help but think about how it has been two weeks since that storm hit. I can still see the horrible thing if I close my eyes sometimes. Unfortunately I am not sure if any of us will ever get over what we went through that week. Hopefully with time it will be easier to deal with.  
On a side not though David did tell me last night that we should have my truck up and running again in a few short days.

* * *

Shortly after we had all finished eating dinner David went to the garage and Max was helping mom with the dishes. As I made my way to the garage I told myself that I should help David with my truck since I did not when he was earlier today. When I entered I called out "Yo do you need some help?"

David answered "I suppose. Could you come over here and hold this light for me?" He then lifted his head from my truck and looked over at me holding out a flashlight for me to hold for him.

When I took the light from him and pointed it at what he was doing one question came to my mind. "Do you really not mind about me and Max? You were pretty hard on us that week when I first reunited with her."

"There was a lot going on and a lot on my mind that week." Was all he responded while working on whatever he was working on.

After letting out a sigh I had to find another way to get my real point across. I am not sure why I asked him that it was not even what was really on my mind.  
"You just seem different know that before is all I am saying."

This clearly got his attention as he stopped what he was doing and stood up straight. As he was cleaning his hands with a rag he asked "What do you mean by that?"

In all honesty I really have no idea how to tell him this so I guess it would be best to just outright say this. "Well you just seem like you actually give a damn about us is all. You know instead of worry about your damn creepy security shit."

His eyes widened as he now really understood what I was really getting at. "Listen Chloe." He said in a calm but serious tone. "I do care about us all. As hard as that may be for you to believe I do, even about you. I just want to keep your mother and you safe is all. So yes I do care but since things have seemed to calm down a lot over this past week I guess I have calmed down as well. Also seeing as how you and Max are clearly going to be together, I know need to care about her as well since she clearly means a lot to you."

This all hit me so fast that I was not really able to comprehend it so well. "I, um... thank you. That is good to hear."

David put his left hand on my shoulder and told me "I just want us to get along ok. I know that we have not at all in the past and neither of us really made an effort at it."

"Yeah sure." Was all I could muster up to say. With our knowing what else to do I began to make my way out of the garage. As I left the room I turned to him and told him "I just need a minute ok."

* * *

As I look out at the view from my roof I laugh a little at myself from just leaving him like that last night. I just did not want to have a breakdown in front of him.  
The roads still are not all that busy with traffic just yet I suppose. I have only seen a few cars go down our street now. Then again I think that the relief workers are still clearing some of the streets. Maybe it is a good thing I do not have use of my truck just yet, traveling the streets must be a bitch right now.

When my cigarette burned out I was going to light up another one but then I looked through my window at Max who had shifted in her sleep. As I looked at her I put the pack back in my pocket. It is kind of funny how even after all these years Max Caulfield is still the only one who can get me too honestly think about making myself better.

I know mom was surprised to see me up early this morning. Especially since I usually don't wake up until late morning mostly.

* * *

When I reached the bottom of the stairs and went into the kitchen mom turned to look at me with a surprised looked on her face. Joyce said "Can you not sleep honey? You are up really early this morning."

While fixing myself a cup of coffee I told her "Yeah, we were up late last night and I just woke up and ready for the day I guess."

Joyce then turned to look back at the food she was fixing for breakfast. "Is Max up yet?"

"No not yet. I'm letting her sleep in." I took a small sip from my coffee and then noticed that mom had just put some bacon on.

Mom put the bacon on to fry then grabbed some eggs from the fridge. "I agree she could use some more sleep. David told me about what you two talked about last night. You two also seem to not be at each other throats as much recently."

"Yeah we had a small talk last night, and you can thank Max for me trying to get along with him. But he still gets on my nerves just so you know." I let out a quick sigh then took a long sip from my coffee. "I know he cares about us all but he needed to calm down about that damn security crap."

Joyce released a sigh of her own. "He does go overboard with things at times I will admit that."

The two of us just sat there in silence for a minute before anything was said. I spoke up first "So how are you doing?"

Joyce turned down the heat on the stove and began on the eggs. "I'm doing alright. I have a doctor's appointment this morning."

* * *

As I came back from my thoughts I noticed that the sky was a little darker than it was but saw in the distance that the dark clouds would only be here for a short time. It looked eerie but peaceful at the same time. The way the storm clouds looked overhead clashed with the regular clouds some ways off.  
I began to turn to head back in and took notice of the fact that Max was now starting to stir. As I entered I turned to close my window. I heard her voice call from behind me "Morning Chloe."

"Morning Max. Did you sleep well?" I asked her in a soothing voice.

She let out a small yawn then gave me a small smile. "Yeah I did"

I gave her my signature smirk back. "That is good to hear. Come on mom left us some food downstairs."

* * *

Author's Note: Ok before someone asks what I am talking about with the whole sky look thing here at the end. The other day I got up really early as the sun was rising and looked out my window. There was storm clouds over head but off in the distance I could see regular clouds. The way they came together just looked really cool in the early morning light.


	16. Lazy Morning

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 16: Lazy Morning**

* * *

As Max's eyes were adjusting to the morning light she noticed that Chloe was entering the window. "Did you have a nice morning smoke?"

After closing her window Chloe responded "It was ok. A nice breeze was going."

"That sounds nice." Max then got off the bed and began to stretch her arms over her head.

The punk took a seat at her desk and looked at Max "Did you sleep well?"

The brunette sat back down when she finished stretching and looked back at Chloe "I slept ok."

"Just so you know Mom had David take her for her checkup this morning." Chloe watched as Max moved some of her hair behind her ears."

Letting out a small yawn Max said "Oh man that means no breakfast then."

"I can make you something if you want." Chloe said while idly messing with one of her suspenders.

Upon hearing this Max could not help but let out a small laugh. "Since when can you cook anything?"

While making a shocked face Chloe stood up and went and pulled Max up off the bed and started to make their way downstairs. "Just so you know there is a few things I can cook."

Still laughing Max told her "Ok Chloe, let's see what you can do."

Once they had made it downstairs and into the kitchen Max sat on a stool on the other side of the counter across from the stove. Chloe had started to work on making some pancakes for them to have. The punk was humming to herself as she started while Max watched intently. As the food was cooking the smell began to fill the air and Max was getting really excited to see how good Chloe's pancakes would be. Not only did she fix pancakes but also some eggs to go with them. When the pancakes were done and on plates Chloe got the syrup and set it on the table.

"Wow Chloe this looks so good." Max said.

With a smirk on her face the punk responded "I told you I could cook somethings."

The two were silent for a few moments as they began to eat and Max took in just how good the food actually was. "I have to give it to you Chloe, this is really damn good."

While pouring some syrup on her food Chloe smirked at Max. "Thank you for that. But do not get your hopes up to high. There is not much more than this I can make."

"So Joyce has nothing to worry about then." Max was still staring at Chloe.

After taking a small bite Chloe answered "Exactly." The both shared a small laugh then went back to eating in silence. The two were not really sure what exactly to talk about at the moment but neither one had problem with that. They just enjoyed being together. When they had finished eating Max made it known that she would do the dishes since Chloe cooked. The punk had no problem with that and decided to see if she could find something on tv for them to watch. Once Max finished the dishes she joined Chloe on the couch.

* * *

A little more than an hour after they had breakfast Joyce and David had arrived home. They never found anything interesting to watch and had been just flipping through the channels for the most part watching only a few minutes of anything before trying to find something else. Joyce entered the living room and sat down with them while David went upstairs.

When Joyce sat down Max asked her "So how did your appointment go?"

Joyce told her "The doctors say I am healing up nicely. It will still be a while before my arm is completely healed. What have you girls been up to this morning?"

"Well Chloe here made breakfast for us and it was really good." Max then looked over at Chloe who was blushing now.

With a small chuckle Joyce said "Is that a fact now?"

The punk answered "Hey in my defense I was just trying to do something nice for Max. Besides mom you know I can cook a few things. Other than that we have just been trying to find something to watch but have had no luck with that."

Hearing this Joyce gave her daughter a small smile. "Well I would hope you could cook something seeing as how you are my child."

With a small chuckle Max told her "Do not worry Joyce, you are still the master cook here."

"Hey!" The punk called out.

With a small laugh Joyce responded "Thank you Max."

A few minutes later David came downstairs and joined them in the living room. "What is all the laughter I hear about?"

Joyce told him "Oh nothing much. Just it turns out what Chloe had cooked for Max did not turn out bad." David gave Chloe a questioning look.

Chloe said "Oh come on now you are going to make fun of me to?"

David replied "No but I have never seen you cook before."

"That is because when I do usually no one is home." Chloe stood up to stretch and look around the room for no reason. "With that I am leaving the room before any of you can give me any more shit."

As Chloe walked away Max called out "Chloe please don't go." The brunette then let out a small sigh, seeing as how Chloe was not coming back.  
"I'm going to go after her."

"Ok sweetie." Joyce said. She and David sat in silence for a bit after the girls had left the room. After a bout five minutes Joyce decide to break the silence.  
"Poor Chloe, she could not handle the teasing me and Max gave her."

David said "At least she did not storm off because of me for once."

With a small frown on her face Joyce told him "David, you know how she is."

With a small sigh he replied "That is true and I understand. But you know she has seemed to change some in the past two weeks."

"Indeed she has." Joyce now had a small smile on her face. "Ever since Max has come back Chloe has been different in a good way. This is what she needed.  
Max has brought back some of side of my daughter that I have not seen in a long time. Shortly after William died Max left soon after and all of that hit Chloe so hard. Now that Max is back I believe that she has finally been relieved of some of the hardships she had."

After a moment of thought David told her "Your right. I can see that to."

* * *

Once Max had finally made her way to Chloe's room she saw her sitting at her desk again. She did not look mad or sad but Max knew that when Chloe was deep in thought she could hide the emotions from her face for a time. "Hey are you ok? We did not mean to upset you Chloe."

The punk looked up at Max and told her "It is ok, I am not upset. I just, I do not know. I am just not used to all of us being like that you know. For the past few years things have been so rough between me and mom and especially David that all of that was just too much for me to handle at the moment. I know that it was all harmless teasing. I am sorry but you know how I am and how I get."

"That is ok." Max now moved over and took a seat on the bed facing Chloe. "You have nothing to apologize for. I mean look at me I am the living embodiment of anxiety."

With a short sigh Chloe said "Yeah but I should not have stormed off like that."

Max assured her "It is ok Chloe. I am sure Joyce and David understand."


	17. Another Way

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 17: Another Way**

 **Author's note: Ok so here is a little something I have put together in time for the anniversary of the first day of the events of the game enjoy.**

* * *

As I wake up I push a few of my blue strands of hair out of my face. As I checked my phone I noticed that it was Monday October 7th. I had just a little bit of time before I need to go meet that prick Nathan. Probably best if I don't wake and bake today, need to keep my head clear. Whatever mom is cooking smells good, I'll just get ready for the day then go see what she is making. As I came down the stairs I could smell the bacon with what ever mom was cooking.

When I entered the room Joyce called out "Morning Chloe. I have some pancakes and bacon for you if you are hungry."

"Yeah sure." I grab a mug from a cupboard and pour myself a cup of coffee. Shortly after I took a seat mom brought me placed a plate of food down in front of me. "Thanks."

After a few moments of silence my mother asked "Chloe are you ok?"

I took a few quick bites of my food before I responded. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

Mom let out a small sigh and took a seat across from me. "Well lately you have been acting a little different than usually. I mean as in more distant than you normally are."

Horrible thoughts rush through my mind as I try to respond to my mother. She would not believe me nobody really would. They would just tell me that it was my fault and had it coming. I quickly shook those thoughts from my head. "No nothing is up. I just don't really don't want to be harassed as much is all." It makes me sick thinking about what the prick Nathan tried to do. But I just can't tell her about it.

Mom lets out another sigh before see looks me in the eye again. "Well if you want to talk just know I will listen."

"Sure." It was all I could muster to say. Joyce then went back to the kitchen and washed a few dishes. A few minutes later she left for work and I was alone again with just my thoughts.

I did not do much to pass the time except just mentally psych myself up for what I was about to do within the next hour or so. I went and grabbed my jacket and my beanie along with my truck keys and left for Blackwell.

As I arrived in the parking lot of Blackwell I just double parked in some spaces not really caring because I did not expect to be here long. As I made my way towards the main building I saw a few people that I met during my time here but never really talked to many of them. I saw Justin with his skater bros hanging out smoking over in the distance and for a quick second thought about hitting them up but decided against it, need to keep my head clear for now.  
As I'm making my way to the building I am watching out for step-douche. The last thing I need right now is to deal with him. If I am lucky he will be too busy harassing some student so I can sneak by.

When I entered the building I saw that Nathan had entered the bathroom. As I approached the bathroom I mentally psyched myself up. "You can do this.  
Just go in demand what you want get it and get out, simple right?' When I reached the door I could hear him talking to himself. When I entered he looked at me and looked really pissed.

"What do you want?" He demanded.

"Hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say." I tell him as I quickly scan the stalls. "Anyway, let's talk bidness."

With more agitation in his voice he responded "I've got nothing for you."

"Wrong you have hella cash." I now had more bravado in my tone.

All the while Nathan was still looking into the mirror. "That is my parents not me."

Seeing as how this was going nowhere I had to step my game up. "Boo hoo, you are just some spoiled little right brat. I know that you have been pumping drugs to the students at this school. How would it feel to have people know that Nathan is nothing but a coward who does nothing but talk to himself like a scared kid into a mirror huh?" I shove his shoulder for good measure.

The look in his eyes completely changes. "What do you know huh?" He tells me this as he turns around and pulls a gun on me.

My heart skips a beat then begins to beat almost through my chest. "Where did you get that thing? Put that gun away!"

He looks at me with cold eyes as he steps closer. "I am sick and tired of everyone trying to control me!"

In an attempt to get out of this I told him "Come on man put that thing away."

He then gets even angrier. "Stop trying to control me! No one would even miss your punk ass would they!"

All of the sudden out of nowhere someone yells "Yes they would!"

With confusion in his voice he turns around. "What the fuck!" As he turned the voice must have really surprised him because he shot his gun immediately and the shot startled me. After a moment I quickly checked myself and noticed that I did not get shot. When I looked up I saw someone I never thought I would see again. For the first time in five year I saw Max Caulfield. Then I noticed the large red spot on her chest. I quickly ran to her shoving a rambling Nathan out of my way. Tears were in my eyes now. "What the fuck Max? Out of nowhere after five years, and you just got shot in front of me."

With much strain on her voice she replied "I am sorry Chloe."

"It is ok Max. We will get you some help." I took notice of the fact that David entered the room but did not look away from Max.

After a cough she started again. "No Chloe, I can feel that I am fading. Just know that I... will always lo... lo... love you."

Right after she said those words she fell limp in my arms. "MAX! NO!"

* * *

I awoke and immediately looked to my right and saw that Max was there sleeping soundly. I let out a huge sigh of relief as that was just a really bad nightmare.  
I did not have to check myself to know that I was covered in a cold sweat. Max looks to be waking up though.

"Chloe are you ok?" She asked groggily.

After another sigh I told her "Yeah just had a really bad dream."

Max began to rub her eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Oh boy where do I even begin?" I move over to my desk and open my window.

Max was now sitting straight up. "Well from the beginning I suppose, that is usually where I begin when I talk about my bad dreams with you."

I light up a cigarette before I begin after that dream I need one. "Alright then. First I woke up and noticed that it was the morning everything started. I went downstairs and talked with mom and went to Blackwell shortly after she left. Then I had to get to the bathroom without David catching me. The rest you know.  
But what was different was that when Nathan was about to shoot me you stepped out and yelled at him. When he turned around he shot you though, instead of me." I now had tears escaping my eyes. "As you were bleeding out you told me how you felt about me."

Max had some tears of her own as well. "Chloe I am so sorry that you had this dream. But I am here now with you."

"I know Max." I put out my cigarette and sighed. "That damn dream felt so real though."

Max stood up and moved over to me and hugged me. We sat there in silence for a few minutes. After about five minutes Max finally spoke up. "Chloe,  
what would you say if I told you that I have actually thought about what if I did that instead?"

Wait did I just hear that right? "What do you mean Max?"

She let out a small sigh. "I mean what if I went back and sacrificed myself for you and the town?"

"You are kidding right? What the hell man? Why would you think about that?" I am so mad and confused now.

"Chloe." Max began but I could not let her continue.

"No!" I tell her. "If one of us had to die that day it should have been me. I am glad you chose to save me but if one of us needed to it should have been me,  
not you."

She moved to the bed and sat down and looked up at me. "But why? I just could not stand to lose you."

I take a deep breath and release it slowly to try and calm down a little. "Listen Max, I think we both know that I will not amount to much ever. You have so much to look forward to in life. It would be a really bad move if you sacrificed yourself in my place. Me, I am most likely going nowhere in life. You on the other hand, you are going to make the world bow. You have so much talent and potential."

Max was no crying heavily. "How can you say that about yourself Chloe?"

"Because it is true." I tell her.

She wipes her eyes then looks sternly at me. "Do not talk about yourself like that. You are worth so much. Especially to me. Please do not ever think so little of yourself ok?"

"I am sorry Max. I do want to make myself better and do something with my life. I just do not even know where to begin." I myself am now crying heavily.

Max stands up and hugs me again. "That is ok. We will figure it out together." Once again we both sit there holding each other in silence for a while.

After about a good ten minutes I have to ask her something on my mind. "Hey I have to know and sorry in advance if I come off as a bitch but I have to know. Have you tried to rewind recently? Is that why you have thought about this?"

Max takes a moment before she answers. "No I have not. You know that I am afraid of what might happen if I do. It is not like I have thought about this a whole lot it is just something that has popped in my head from time to time."

"I see." I look at my phone and notice that it is three in the morning. "Wow it is three in the morning. Joyce is going to be so pissed at us for waking up so late tomorrow."

With a small laugh Max asks "Don't you mean today?"

With a smirk on my face I respond "Whatever. Either way we need to try to get some sleep at least. Hopefully I won't have any more shitty nightmares."

Max shoves my arm and tells me "Do not worry I will fight off the bad dreams for you."

"Ok super Max." I say.

* * *

Author's note: Before anyone says anything yes I know that I shorten the conflict between Nathan and Chloe in this dream sequence. But my main focus was more on what was going through her mind than the actual conflict itself.


	18. What to do

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 18: What to do**

 **Author's Note: It is October 20th 2016. That means it has been one year since the relese of the final episode. Here is to one year of the game.**

* * *

As we finished eating breakfast I looked at my phone and noticed that it was October 31st. I look at Chloe and told her "Hey Chloe, today is the last day of October."

Chloe said "Oh yeah it is. It is kind of hard to believe that tomorrow will make it three weeks since the storm."

"I know." It is true. It does feel a little odd that it has been three weeks since that week. But it feels like it has been so much longer.

Chloe moved over to the counter and sat on it. "How do you feel?"

What am I supposed to tell her? I am not really sure how I feel right now about all of that. "To be honest, I am not too sure."

She was now fiddling with one of her loose suspenders "Well that is understandable. I mean I sure as hell would not know what to feel or how to for that matter."

"I mean I do feel like shit for letting it happen but at the same time I am so happy to be here with you." I tell her in a low voice.

She looks at me and gives me a small sigh. "Max do not start that."

"But Chloe." I am quickly stopped.

She stood up and told me. "No Max. We are not even sure if you did cause that storm. For all we know it could have been coming either way. I know that I cannot stop you from feeling bad about it. But just know that you do not have to beat yourself up about it because we cannot be sure that it came because of you."

I let out a small sigh of my own. "As true as that may be we can't be sure that it was not because of me either."

She hung her head low. "I know." We just sat there in silence for a few minutes after that because neither of us really knew what to say to the other after that. After a few minutes Chloe spoke up. "I'll be right back, need a smoke." She then walked out to the backyard.

Now I was all alone with just my thoughts. I know that Chloe was just trying to cheer me up but we really are not sure if I caused the storm or not.  
Sadly I don't think we will ever know what really caused it. It could have been me or it could have been coming all along. At least things are starting to slowly go back to normal. Today is Halloween, I wonder if Chloe will want to do anything? Then again what is there to do? Well I guess I'll see what she thinks when she comes back in.

A few minutes later Chloe comes back in and has a small smile on her face. "Sorry about that Max, I did not mean to bring up those things to hurt your feelings."

I moved some hair out of my face. "Do not worry about it Chloe. That is ok. But since it is Halloween is there anything you want to do?"

"Well now that you ask that I am not sure if there is anything to do. I mean the town still does not have all that much really up and running yet." She told me.

I let out a small giggle. "I just thought that myself."

A few moments later Chloe looked at me and had a somewhat serious look on her face. "Well there is one thing I can think of that we can do today. It has been quite some time since I have done it though. Would you maybe want to go see my dad today?"

To be honest I was not expecting this at all. "You mean like go visit William's grave?"

She was now shifting her weight from foot to foot in an awkward manner. "Well yeah. But like you totally do not have to, I understand if you don't. It is just that I have not been in a hella long time and just feel like I should go there today."

It makes me happy to hear that she wants to do this and even wants me to go with her. "Of course we can go. I have never really had the chance to go there myself and I feel bad about that."

"Well now we can fix that." She now had a smile on her face. "So no time like the present, get your shoes on lets go."

"Ok Chloe." I tell her.

* * *

It is earlier in the afternoon by the time we get to the cemetery. We sat in the truck for a minute when we arrived and neither of us spoke. Eventually Chloe patted my shoulder to show me she was ready to go and moved to open her door to get out. As I got out of the truck Chloe made her way around and took my hand. We began to slowly walk through the place and I noticed how it looked in the fall. As weird as it seems the place actually looks kind of nice with the few trees that are off in the distance with their leafs changing. Within a few minutes of walking and taking in the scenery we finally made it to William's grave.

We stood there for a minute or two in silence before Chloe finally spoke up. "Um, hi dad. I know it has been awhile, sorry about that." Chloe now had a few tears going down her face and let out a small sniffle. "Life has been pretty messed up and hectic lately. I have someone with me today, Max is here."

"Hey William it's me Max." I say in a small voice.

Chloe wiped her eyes before she continued. "Some crazy shit has happened since the last time I was here. Do you remember my friend Rachel I told you about. It turns out some crazy teacher kidnaped her for some sick photos the killed her. Also as you can see Max came back and she is super-sized. Also that crazy storm came. But on top of all of that me and Max have grown closer together."

I took a moment to think of something to say. "It is true we have. I am sorry that you are not here to see Chloe now. She is such an amazing person."

Chloe let out another sniffle. "I have to ask if you would approve of us. How would you feel about us dad?"

"Chloe you know your dad loves you no matter what." I tell her.

She let out a small sigh. "I know Max. But I can't help but wonder if he would disapprove. I also feel as if there are times that I have let him down."

I know had tears in my eyes. "Chloe, you are not letting you dad down. Yes you have had some hard times but he would be so proud of you." I moved to put my arms around her.

We sat there is silence hugging for a few minutes. After a while Chloe asked "Do you remember the first time dad took us to the light house?"

"How could I ever forget that." I responded.

She let out a small chuckle. "We were playing and marked out our tree fort on the map with permeant marker. Dad tried to give us a time out for it but we just sat there laughing and went on playing."

I let out a small chuckle myself. "We were such bad kids at times for him."

She added "Yeah we were. But he did not care, he seemed so happy that we were happy." Chloe now turned back to the gravestone. "I really miss you dad. I know mom and Max here miss you to. It is just so damn hard at times you know, I mean we all know I have never really gotten over what happened but I just am not sure what to do at times. You helped me so much in life and meant so much to me that I am just struggling to deal without you. But now that Max is back maybe I can start to do better."

I had to wipe my eyes from my tears that were still building up. "I will help you Chloe, and I do miss you William."

Chloe looked at me and gave me a small smile then her face went blank. "Hey um, could I have a minute alone? I just need a minute because of all these emotions running around in my head at the moment and just need a moment alone with..."

"Do not worry about it Chloe I understand. Take all the time you need." I tell her. As I am walking away I see that she is weeping heavily. Poor Chloe I just hope I can help her. She has been through so much these past few years.

While I am walking around aimlessly I stumbled upon a grave that I did not expect to run into at least not yet. I stop and look down and see that before me is where the put Rachel. I wonder how Chloe will be when she sees this. "Hi Rachel we never got to meet but I am Max Caulfield. I am sorry for what happened to you. Chloe really misses you. Also thank you for being there for her when I was not. I have heard so many things about you from her, I wish that we could have meet. Chloe says we all would have been hella best friends. Jefferson got what was coming to him I suppose. When David and the cop went to get him he put up a fight and they had to take him out, so at least he won't be hurting anyone ever again. I know it might not mean much to you but I know what hell you went through with him and I truly am sorry for that." I heard Chloe's footsteps as she came closer.

Chloe called out "Hey Max there you are." As she approached her face went blank again when she saw the name on the grave in front of me. "So this is where she was buried."

I put a hand on her left shoulder. "I am sorry Chloe."

"No it is fine, I needed to see this at some point." She assured me. "Hey Rach. I see that you finally met Max. She is the one I told you about so many times.  
She has been helping me deal with all of this crazy shit recently. I am so glad to have her back. I guess I will never know what you saw in Frank or why you hid it from me. But I do miss you dearly. That is some crazy shit that happened to you. I am sorry Rach."

I stood with Chloe for a while as she spoke to Rachel. As sad as it made me to see her break down again I also knew she needed this.


	19. Reaching Out

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 19: Reaching Out**

 **Author's note: Wow this story has recently hit 10k views, I am kind of surprised that so many have taken time to read this even though it is bad. So I just want to say thank you for taking time to check it out.**

* * *

As I wake up I rub my eyes to get the grogginess out of them. I also notice that Chloe is not here. I take a look around and see a note on her desk that i nforms me that she is in the garage with David working on her truck and that they should have it working today. After a minute I decide to go ahead and get changed for the day. As soon as I finished that I went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face.

While I am standing here looking at my face in the mirror my phone begins to ring. I take a look at it and see that it is my dad calling me. I hesitantly answer "Hello."

He replied "Hello Max. How have you been?"

"I have been ok. How are you doing?" I respond.

He lets out a small sigh. "I have been better. There is something I want to talk with you about."

I turn off the light to the bathroom and begin to make my way back to Chloe's room. "What is it we need to talk about?"

Before he responds I hear my mother in the background saying something, but I cannot quite comprehend what it is. "Well I have been talking with your mother, and we have discussed about thanksgiving. Since Arcadia Bay is still recovering from the storm we were wanting to know if all of you would like to spend thanksgiving here."

I was not expecting this. "Ok but is that really a good idea? I mean, you know mom does not approve of me and Chloe."

I heard another sigh before he replied. "Max, I am trying to get your mother to understand. She is somewhat better about it now than back when we found out. I feel that this would be a good opportunity to work things out with her. But I also think she just needs more time."

I grab my arm out of nervousness. "I will talk with Chloe and Joyce about it and see how they feel about it. But I make no promises."

My dad tells me "That is all I ask sweetie."

After I tell my dad goodbye I lay down on the bed and begin to wonder how I will bring this up to Chloe and her mother. I imagine that Joyce will be a bit more open to the idea but Chloe might not be. I cannot say I blame her though, mom could have took the news about us better.

* * *

I decided that the sooner I bring this up the better so I made my way downstairs and found Joyce cleaning a few things in the living room. It is almost as if the few injuries she got during the storm do not even slow her down. This just helps to prove that she is super mom. "Hey Joyce."

She looks up at me and replies "Hi there Max."

"Um, when you get a moment can I talk to you and Chloe?" I am beginning to get nervous.

Joyce sets what she is holding down. "Sure thing. Can I ask what this is about?"

I start to switch my weight from foot to foot. "My dad just called and I want to talk with both you and Chloe about it."

It takes her a moment to respond. "Ok, give me a minute and I will be back with Chloe." I am left standing here for what feels like a long time but is actually only maybe a minute or two. I am just really worried about how Chloe will take this.

As they enter the room Chloe calls out "Hey mom said you have something important you want to talk with us about." She then moves to the sink to wash her hands.

"I think you should take a seat before we start. How is the truck coming along?" I guess it might be best to buy a few moments.

After she washes her hands Chloe reaches for a nearby rag to dry her hands off. "It is coming along good. It should be running again today." She then makes her way over to the table where me and Joyce are sitting."

I let out a small sigh before I begin. "So I got a call from my dad a little bit ago."

Chloe now has a somewhat confused look on her face. "Um, ok is something wrong?"

"No not really but he did tell me something." My hands are now starting to feel clammy. Why am I so nervous about this? It is just Chloe. "He told me that my mother and him want all of us to go spend thanksgiving there with them."

Chloe lets out a small laugh before she responds. "What are you serious? What about how your mom acted towards us?"

I grabbed my left arm out of nervousness. "I did not commit to anything, all I told him was I would talk to you two about it."

Chloe gave me a stern look. "Max I just am not sure how good of an idea this is."

At this point her mother joined in. "Well in all honesty I think we should go."

"What?" Chloe asked.

Joyce shifted around in her seat a little and looked directly at Chloe. "Chloe we need to give Vanessa a chance. She will come around at some point. The way I see it this is a small way of her reaching out. The least we could do is give her a chance."

My punk just let out a sigh. "Sure whatever. I still do not think this is a good idea though." She then got up and went back to the garage.

As she was walking away I tried to call out to her but she would not listen to me. Joyce put a hand on my shoulder and told me "Just give her some time Max. Chloe will come around and eventually agree to it. You seem to have that kind of effect on her."

"Thank you Joyce." I told her.

Joyce let out a small chuckle. "Think nothing of it. But I am not too sure how she will be with Vanessa. To be honest I am not too sure to be worried about who will lash out at who when we go."

I let out a small chuckle myself. "Oh boy, I did not even think about that. What are we thinking?"

Joyce replied "Hopefully we will not have to worry too much about it. If we are lucky maybe we can all work something out." Joyce then went to go back to cleaning the living room. I decided to help Joyce while Chloe was with David working on her truck.

* * *

Joyce and Max spent the next half hour cleaning then Max went back up to Chloe's room. About an hour later Joyce heard the sound of the truck engine turning over and starting up. A few minutes later Chloe came in the living room. Joyce called out to her daughter "Chloe can we talk for a minute?"

With a huff the punk responded "Sure mom."

The older woman put down the glass of water she was drinking. "Chloe we need to do this for Max. She really wants to try to bridge this gap between you two and her mother."

"I know that mom." The punk let out a long sigh. "It is just that, the look Max had in her eyes when her mom reacted the way she did. She had so much hurt in those eyes that it pained me to see her like that. I just don't want to see her with that look in her eyes again because of her mother. I know that I am being a bitch about this but it just gets me so mad, and what if I go off on her mother? What then? I will just be making matters worse then."

Joyce put a hand on Chloe's left shoulder. "Sweetie have you talked to Max about this?"

The punk let out another sigh. "No. You know I am bad with this kind of stuff."

Her mother told her "I know but you should talk about this with her."

* * *

As I am sitting here in Chloe's room I contemplate writing some in my journal but I heard Chloe's truck start a few minutes ago so I guess she will be up here soon. I look up as I hear the door open. As she shuts the door she walks over to the bed and sits down next to me. "So I heard your truck start, that is good."

She begins to rub the back of her neck. "Yeah it is. Listen Max, I am sorry for how I acted earlier but I need you to know that it hurt me terribly the look you had in your eyes when she reacted the way she did. I just do not want to see you hurt like that by her again."

I can hear the sincerity in her voice. "Chloe I know it must have hurt you but we have to try and let her in."

"I know Max. I am just afraid that if I go off on her what will happen." She was now bouncing her right leg up and down.

I put my right arm around her. "It will be ok Chloe. If you do I am sure she will deserve it, besides nothing is going to keep me away from you. But we do need to try to be civil about it ok."

"Ok I will for you." She told me.

I ask her "So does that mean we are going?"

Chloe lets out a small sigh "Yeah I guess so. But I still want it to be known that I am really skeptical about this."


	20. Time With Friends

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 20: Time With Friends**

 **Author's Note: Just a heads up. This one is a bit shorter because the next main point is taking me longer than I expected to get done. So I have made this little one to help fill the void.**

 **Aaron Leach: thanks for letting me know you are enjoying the story.**

 **Darklord341: Happy to see you are excited. Things will be happening soon.**

 **tdisastermaster: Thanks for seeing how I have done. I know I am not that good at this but I do hope I can still do well enough with the way I write the characters and how they feel.**

 **stmidget: Glad you liked it. I felt that the way the weather seemed outside would help set the feeling that I was going for.**

* * *

Now that Chloe has had he tuck working for a full day and made sure it is road worthy we decided to go and see how some of our friends are doing.  
As we pull into the hospital parking lot I look at my phone at see that it is just after one. As Chloe turned the truck off she asked "Hey is Kate going to be able to hang with us for a bit?"

I unbuckle my seatbelt. "She texted me this morning that she was going to get her break at one."

"Ok cool." She replied as she got out of the truck. Chloe made her way around the truck and interlocked her fingers with mine. We then began to make our way into the hospital. After a minute we found Kate in the cafeteria. As we approached her we noticed that her eyes were red like she had been crying recently. "Yo Kate are you ok?"

Kate jumped a little apparently she was not expecting us to be here just yet. "Oh, um hi there. Yeah I am ok."

I asked her "Kate why are you crying?"

Kate wiped her eyes. "Now that it is not so busy here I have had some time to finally think about everything. I just got caught up in thinking about some people who did not make it."

I felt my heart sink a little. Yet again I have caused more pain to someone close to me. Chloe must have seen the small shift in my face because she squeezed on my hand a bit harder than usual. "I'm sorry Kate, is there anything we can do for you?"

Kate looked at me and gave me a small smile. "No but thank you."

Chloe sat down next to her and pulled her beanie off. "So how has it been working here?" My blue haired punk must really want to change the topic.

Kate took a moment to look around before she replied. "It has been good. But I feel that now that people are getting better and a good amount have been sent home I question how much longer I can work here. I mean I have to wonder how long they will allow me to. I suppose I could see if they have a volunteer program."

I take a seat now myself. "I imagine they would be glad to keep letting you help out."

She now had a small grin on her face. "I do enjoy helping people here. Of course whenever we have to start back school I will have to cut back my time here."

I looked over at Chloe and she seemed to be happier that the topic is now onto something lighter. My punk even relaxed into her seat more than she usually does around Kate. I really like it that Chloe seems to be getting used to being around Kate even though they are both so different.

* * *

Once we were done chatting with Kate we decided to go and see how Dana and Trevor are doing. We met up with them at a nearby coffee shop that was surprisingly open. As we approached them Chloe asked "Yo Trevor how are you doing man?"

Trevor replied "I am doing ok. They let me go home a few days ago. They did tell me to keep taking it easy for a while, I still need time before I can really go back to skating."

Dana then spoke up. "Ugh, that is all he can think about it seems as well as getting high."

Chloe responded "Hey there is nothing wrong with that."

The cheerleader rebuked "As true as that may be there are other things to worry about."

My punk looked at me. "Come on Max back me up."

"I think I have to agree with Dana on this one." I let out a small laugh after I told her this.

Chloe tells me "Fine then, you two can go order something for us while we go get a table."

I watch Chloe and Trevor as the go get a table off in the corner for us all. Dana and I make our way to the counter order some coffee and snacks for us.  
While we are waiting for our stuff I decide to see how Dana is doing. "So how are you doing?"

The cheerleader took a moment to gather her thoughts before she answered. "I have actually been pretty good. Things seem a bit better now that Trevor is out of the hospital. In all honesty I do not really care that he wants to skate and get high, I just like to mess with him."

"I know how you feel. It is kind of fun to mess with Chloe from time to time about that stuff to." I looked over at Chloe and saw that she had a big smile on her face from whatever her and Trevor were talking about.

I looked back at Dana after hearing her clear her throat. "So how are you two doing?"

I move some hair out of my face. "We are doing good. We are actually going to spend thanksgiving with my parents."

She then had a surprised look on her face. "Has your mom changed her mind since you told her?"

"No, but Chloe's mom helped me to convince Chloe that if we do this it might help that. Hopefully during this time we can try to connect with her." As I say this I still wonder if it will work.


	21. Road Trip

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 21: Road Trip**

 **Author's Note: Darklord341 and Aaron Leach: I am glad you enjoyed it.**

 **tur1823: Who knows what will happen only time will tell lol.**

* * *

"So we all decided that we will leave Wednesday morning and should get to your parents house by the midafternoon. So we will stay the night there and spend Thanksgiving there. Depending on how things go will determine when we leave on Friday. Does all of that sound about right to you Max?"

Max gave a small laugh before she answered. "Yes that is the plan Chloe. But Joyce and David left almost an hour ago. Did you really have to sleep so late?"

I am now laughing. "Well what can I say, I need my beauty sleep."

Max then puts her seatbelt on. "Remind me why we are not riding with Joyce and David again."

"Come on Max. David and I may be working on things between us but I do not want to spend a few hours in a car with him." I then start the truck.

She sat there in thought for a moment. "Ok I see your point." We rode in silence for a few minutes.

As we approached the city limits of the bay a question came to my mind. "Max, I have to ask. What do we do if your mom just refuses to accept us?"

She took a few moments to gather her thoughts. "To be honest I really do not know. I just want her to understand is all. But it just seems like she will not even hear us out."

"I get that." I take my beanie off my head and put in on the seat in between us. "I just want you to know that I do not want things to be hard between your mother and you."

Max let out a small sigh. "I know, but hopefully we will be able to make some progress during these next few days."

* * *

As we are going down the highway I made a quick turn off about halfway to her parents house to stop for gas. Even though I know Max is going to be upset with me I also bought a pack of cigarettes. I really do plan on this being the last pack I buy. Once I get back in the truck and get back on the road we are stopped by a red light before I get back to the turn to the highway. While we are waiting for the light to change I light up a cigarette. I also notice the sour look Max gives me. "Before you say anything yes I know I said that I would quit. I do intend to but I need one now I am so nervous.  
This is the last pack I intend to buy."

Max let out a sigh of annoyance. "Chloe it has been a few weeks and you have yet to try to stop. I just worry about you."

"I know Max. I am sorry that I have not tried yet. Like I said this is the last pack I intend to buy. It is just that this whole trip has me on edge." I then take a long slow drag off my cigarette. As the light changes I decide to change the topic so as we might not fight. Need to save our energy for possible confrontations in the near future. "So who is taking care of Alice?"

She shuffles around in her seat for a moment. "Kate has her back now. Now that there is not as much for her to do at the hospital she has finally came back to her dorm."

"That is good to hear." I tell her. "I have to ask though, after everything she has been through is she ok?"

Max sat there silent for a minute. I took a quick glance at her and noticed that she seemed to be deep in thought. After a little bit she finally answered.  
"I think so, but to be honest it is hard to tell. I mean she must be since the hospital said she was right? She never really talks about it. I can't say I blame her though. I went through that shit to and really do not want to relive it."

I instantly regretted asking that now. I took another glance at her and saw that she had a hurt expression on her face. "Shit, I am sorry Max. I did not mean to bring that horrible shit back up."

She was quick to respond. "No it is ok. I know you did not mean to bring it up. You were just wondering if Kate would be ok on her own. I just got a little lost in bad memories there."

 _'Damn it I just had to go and bring that shit up didn't I. Come on can I at least get something done right today._ ' "I am sorry though."

I saw that she moved her hand to wipe some tears out of her eyes. "It is ok."

* * *

We drove in silence for a while. Only small little things were said in between not much had been said since we stopped for gas. A short while after we entered the city of Seattle she finally spoke up some. "We are almost there. Just go down this road for another ten minutes and we will be there."

"Ok cool." _'Let's see here there has to be something that can cheer her up. I might have an idea.'_ "Hey do you remember the time we helped my mom make one of her pies for Thanksgiving?"

She let out a small chuckle. "You mean the time where you threw some pie filling at me then we fought and got a mess all over the kitchen?" It was good to hear her laugh again.

"Oh man that was so funny to see your hair covered in all those different pie fixings." I now let out a loud laugh.

Max took a moment to stop laughing before she responded. "No it was not. It took me so long to get all of it out."

I moved some of my hair behind my ear. "Well any way I was thinking that maybe we could try again this year. But you know actually make one this time."

She formed a small smile on her face. "That does sound like fun. But just so you know I will be watching you. I know how you can be."

"I am sure that is not the only reason why you will be watching me." I chuckle.

She face palmed at that. "Really Chloe."

I begin to laugh even harder now. "Hey I am just stating the obvious. Besides you know that you love me for it."

Max then took out her journal and opened it up. "Oh I know you so well."

After we share another minute of laugher a thought came to my mind. "Hey do you think my mom will try to help your mom cook?"

I could hear her scribbling away at whatever she was working on. "Well it is Joyce, but she does cook all the time and works at a diner. So I suppose she might just sit this one out. But I do hope she decides to help with the turkey. I mean my mom can cook some but her turkey is nothing like Joyce's."

I had to take a moment to think about it but Max is right. "I remember the time your mom made the turkey for all of us because mom was not feeling to good that year. So yeah I think it would help all of us if mom made it." We drove for about another five minutes and then we were here. "So, you ready?"

Max just sat there quite for a moment. "I suppose so."

Once we got out of the truck we made our way to the door and waited for a minute but before we went to knock her father opened the door. Once the door was fully open he pulled Max into a hug. "It is good to see you Max. I have missed you."

As she wrapped her arms around him she replied "I have missed you to dad."

As they pulled apart Ryan looked at me. "It is good to see you again as well Chloe."

"It's good to see you to Ryan." I began to nervously rub the back of my neck.

Once we entered the house Ryan shut the door behind us. "Ok girls your mothers are in the kitchen and me and David are in the living room getting to know each other.

Max looked at me and told me "I am going to go say hi to mom."

"Ok, I need to go to the bathroom. I will check in with you after that." To be honest I was not entirely ready to deal with Vanessa. I just need a few minutes to myself to mentally prepare myself.


	22. Day Before Thanksgiving

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 22: Day Before Thanksgiving**

 **Author's Note: Sorry this is taking me longer to get these chapters out but I am having some trouble with plotting how I want it to go. So it is taking me longer to make it all seem somewhat sensible. Also this chapter will be changing between both Max and Chloe's point of views.**

* * *

Once I made it into the bathroom I immediately turned on the water and splashed some in my face. After I turned off the water and looked up into the mirror and moved some of my blue hair out of my face. What is wrong with me? Why am I so damn nervous all of the sudden? I was fine in the truck with Max But now that we are here it seems so different.

I need to pull myself together, if nothing else I need to do it for Max. I know that she is stressing out about how all of this is going to go down. I really do hope everything does work out with all of this.

As I walk into the kitchen Joyce calls out "Oh Max your here. It is about time you and Chloe got here."

* * *

"Yeah sorry about that. Chloe took forever to wake up this morning." I then look over at my mother and see that she is intently focusing on what ever it is she is cooking. "Hi mom."

Mom keeps focusing on the food for a moment before she gives me a quick look. "Hello Maxine." Ugh she knows that I hate it when people call me by my first name. But I do not want to start anything though so I will let it be. She quickly set her focus back to what she was cooking. "How have you been?"

"I have been good." Wow can she really not even look at me. Then again she always does focus really intently on cooking when it is for Thanksgiving.  
Maybe I am worrying to much but I feel like she is not really going to try but instead just be cold and distant. What am I saying? It is like I just told myself she just focuses really hard on cooking because she wants the food to be good for everyone.

Joyce then spoke up "I was just telling Vanessa about how the town is coming along. There is still a long way to go but it seems like the town is making good progress."

My mom responded "That is good to hear."

Joyce finished peeling the potato she was working on before she spoke again. "It is still hard to believe that that storm just came out of nowhere."

"I know what you mean." I never wanted that storm to show up. According to Chloe the storm was not necessarily my fault. She could be right but to be honest I feel like we will never really know if that is true or not.

It was silent between the three of us for a minute. My mom was the one to speak up. "I am just glad that all of you are ok." She stopped what she was doing and came to give me a hug. Ok so maybe this might not go as bad as I thought it would.

* * *

Ok Price now that you have had your little breakdown in the bathroom lets go and see what everyone is up to ok. As I left the bathroom I turned the light off and made my way downstairs. Once I made it to the living room I saw Ryan and David sitting talking to each other. "So what are you two talking about?"

Ryan turned his head to look at me. "Well Chloe David here was telling me some about himself and how all of you have been these past few years."

Oh boy David is telling about us, I am sure he made me look really bad by now. Maybe he did not make it seem that bad though. But who am I kidding?  
"Well that is just great. So you have been telling him about all the shit I have been into. That is it! What right do you have to try and make me look bad for Max in front of her parents? Please tell me."

David scrunched his face up some and let out a sigh. "Chloe please calm down and before..."

"Do not tell me to calm down!" I cannot believe him.

Ryan cleared his throat and I looked over at him. "Chloe, David has not told me that much. But from what little I have heard I must say it is a little surprising. Although I will not hold any of that against you. I understand that we left at a really bad time for you and I am sorry for that. I know that it must have been hard for you, so of course you got into some trouble. But I will say this, I just want Max to be happy but I will not tolerate some of these things happening to her or around her."

I now had some small tears forming in my eyes. "I understand, I just want you to know that since Max has come back into my life I am slowly changing into a better person. I am so happy now than I have been in years and it is because of her. Yes I have gotten into some bad shit and gotten into trouble over the past few years, but I am willing to change for her. I want to be a better person for her."

Ryan just gave me a small smile. Then I heard a familiar voice speak behind me. "Oh Chloe." I turned around and saw Max standing a few feet behind me with tears in her eyes. She ran over to me and hugged me tight. "You do not have to change who you are for me. I love you for who you are."

"I know Max. I love you to. I will still try to stop smoking though." I was now crying a little myself.

After we pulled away a little from each other we looked over and saw her father looking happy for us. David gave us a small nod and got up and went into the kitchen. Me and Max went and sat down on the couch across from her father.

We sit in silence for a minute then her father asks "So how have you two been?"

Max tells him "We have been good. Do you know how Mom is? She was not very talkative in the kitchen."

Ryan let out a small sigh. "Well you know how mother is. Especially since Joyce is here she feels like she needs to super focus to make good food. But to be honest I am not too sure how she is with you two now. Any time we talk about she is quick to change the subject or find something else to occupy her mind."

I was afraid of this. "So I guess that means this might not go so well after all will it?"

Ryan took a minute to respond. "Well we won't really know until she decides to talk to all of us. But let's not worry about that right not."

"I will give you two a few minutes alone to catch up. I need to get something to drink." As I said this I began to stand up.

Max gave me concerned look. "Ok I will be here if you need me."

* * *

As I left the room I heard Joyce and David talking amongst themselves in the hallway by the stairs. Once I entered the Kitchen I saw Vanessa at the stove.  
I made my way over to the fridge. "Hi Vanessa."

She gave me a quick look. "Hello Chloe."

"So how is it going?" I open the fridge to see what they have. Man I could really go for a stiff drink right now but best to play it safe around Max's parents, I suppose I'll have some water.

Vanessa said "It has been good."

I stand there drinking my water for a few minutes and neither of us say anything else. Well this has been productive. As I am about to ask her something I hear my mom enter the kitchen. Thank goodness I am not too sure if I was up for this yet.

Joyce asks me "Hey Chloe can you and Max make a quick trip to the store for us?"

"Really it is going to be a mad house. What do we possibly need?" I have to admit I was not expecting this. Besides my mom knows this is like the worst day to ever go to the store. It is always pact with people going crazy trying to find those last minute items they need for Thanksgiving dinner.

Joyce give me a stern look. "Oh it will not be that bad. We just need more paper towels we are running low."

I let out a sigh. "Fine whatever let me go get Max."

So I make my way back to the living room and see that Max is watching some hockey game with her dad. "So hockey huh?"

Max lets out a small giggle. "Leave it to my dad to find one that is on."

Ryan made a mock expression of shock on his face. "Hey you used to love it to."

Max told him "I still enjoy it some but not to the extent of you dad. You have always known that. What is going on Chloe?"

"Well mom just told me we need to go get more paper towels, so we have to make a trip to the store." I watch her as she gets up.

She has a look of confusion on her face. "Do they not know that today is like the worst to have to go get anything from the store?"

"I tried to tell them that but mom would not have it. So let's go." I turn to Ryan. "We will be back soon."

He looks up at us. "Good luck girls."

* * *

Sure enough as Chloe and I thought this place is a madhouse, it took us five minutes to find somewhere to park the truck. Now that we are inside it is even crazier. There are people everywhere. So we begin to try to navigate our way through the crowd. "This is insane, look at how many people are here Chloe."

She let out a huff. "Yeah no kidding." I can tell she is getting agitated.

"Look over there I think I see two women fighting over something." I point in the direction of the confrontation.

Chloe stops for a moment. "Wow no shit. They are actually fighting over what looks like a can of peas. Oh my goodness that is too damn funny.  
Can you believe this, people are like animals this time of year."

I giggle a little at her comment. "You can say that again. It seems like the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week is nothing but chaos."

Chloe begins to lead the way again. "You could say that again."

Once we make it to where the paper towels are she grabs a bundle of three rolls. All of the sudden I get pushed by a middle aged man trying to get by.  
I let out a yelp in surprise. Chloe turned around and saw the ending of the scene. "Hey at least watch where you are going, and you could have at least told her sorry."

The man told her "Watch it missy."

I knew this was not going to go well. Chloe began to move towards him. "Hey man what is your damn problem?"

"Chloe just drop it please." I really just want us to get out of here."

She looks at me. "Max that guys just pushed you."

"Let's just pay for our stuff and get out of here ok." I give her a shy look.

She hesitates for a moment. "Ok fine."

* * *

Once we finally made it back home Joyce met us in the hallway. "What took you girls so long?"

Chloe told her "I told you today is a bad day to go. The place was filled with so many people. It took us fifteen minutes to get to the damn checkout.  
Also to top it off some asshole pushed Max aside."

Joyce had a shocked expression on her face. "The nerve of some people. Max I am so sorry."

"At least we are finally back." I say as I take my shoes off. Once we finish talking with Joyce I make my way back into the living room where my dad and David are watching a hockey game. Chloe comes shortly after me and I cuddle up to her on the couch where we spend the rest of the evening.


	23. Thanksgiving Dinner

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 23: Thanksgiving Dinner**

* * *

So yesterday seemed to go ok for me and Chloe. Mom was distant, but at least there was no fight. But she does seems to be keeping herself busy today as well. Although she will be done with everything soon. With her and Joyce both cooking we will be eating dinner soon. If I am being honest with myself that is what I am most afraid of. Because then she will have nothing to keep her busy. But before I can go much further with my train of thought I got a message on my phone. It is from Kate.

 **KATE:** _Happy Thanksgiving Max!_

 **MAX:** _Happy Thanksgiving, Kate how are you?_

 **KATE:** _I am good. How is it going with you guys? If I remember correctly you said that things did not go so well with your mom when she found out._

 **MAX:** _To be honest I am not really too sure how it is going. She has been keeping herself super busy so we have not talked that much._

 **KATE:** _Oh I am sorry to hear that. But if it is any consolation I hope and pray that it works out for the best for you._

Before I could respond I heard my door open and looked up to see Chloe entering. "So hippie what's going on up here with you?"

"I am just texting Kate. She is seeing how things are going." I watch her as she goes over to my desk.

Chloe sits down on the top of my desk instead of actually pulling the chair out. "Ah ok. Well mom and Vanessa are still busy cooking and Ryan and David are up to something in the garage. Also tell Kate I said hi"

I move some of my hair behind my ears. "So things still seems the same down there?"

 **MAX** : _Chloe says hi by the way._

Chloe was now staring out of the window. "Yeah, not much is happening." Almost immediately a new message came up on my phone.

 **KATE:** _You two have to see this picture I just took of Alice._

It was a picture of her bunny wearing a little pilgrim hat and eating a piece of a carrot. "Chloe look at this picture Kate just sent me."

As I turned the phone to her she looked away from the window. "Oh my goodness Max. That is hella cute."

"I know right." I let out a small giggle.

 **MAX:** _We both agree that that is hella adorable._

* * *

We spent about two hours just chilling in my room. Chloe was currently out having a smoke. I am going through my phone and seeing what some of my friends are up to today, when I hear a knock at my door. I look up and see my dad entering.

As he enters the room he clear his throat. "Hey where is Chloe."

I put my phone down on the desk next to me. "She is outside having a quick smoke."

He gives me a stern look. "I have to tell you even though she is your childhood best friend, I am not too fond of the fact that she smokes."

"I have talked with her about this. She has agreed to start trying to quit after she finishes the pack that she is on." I stand up and give him a worrying look.  
"Believe me I worry about her smoking as well."

My dad put a hand on my shoulder. "I can see that you care about her."

I look out my window and see Chloe sitting on the front porch. "I do dad, I really do."

My dad pulls me into a hug. "Well that is good to hear." We sit in silence for a minute. After we pull apart my dad takes a quick look out the window.  
"Well why don't you go out there and tell her that dinner is ready."

After that he left the room. I took a few moments to gather my thought and to mentally prepare myself. As I left my room I made a quick stop in the bathroom to splash some water on my face. As I am doing this I quickly remember the start of that week. I need to push those thoughts from my mind for now. I need to stay focused and not get lost in that week again at the moment. So I begin to make my way downstairs again. Once I am at the front door I quickly put my shoes on.

As I shut the door Chloe looks in my direction and gives me a small smile. "Hey."

I take a seat next to her. "Hey you."

She takes another pull on her cigarette and breaths put the smoke. "So what is up?"

I grabbed my left arm out of nervousness and I think she noticed. "Dad told me to come tell you that dinner is ready."

"Is that a fact?" She asks as she takes another pull then stomps out the remaining of her cigarette. "So, are you ready for this?"

I shift uncomfortably. "I guess so. How about you?"

She just looks off into the distance. "To be honest I am hella nervous right now."

"I am to." I grab her hand.

She turns to me and gives me a small smile. "Well I guess we better get in there then." We both then stand up and make out way inside. Once I shut the front door Chloe turns to me. "Hey give me a minute I need to go wash my hands." Before I could respond she was already on her way up the stairs.  
I suppose she needs just another few moments. I decide to take a seat at the bottom of the stairs.

After a minute Joyce appears in front of me. "Oh Max there you are. Where is Chloe?"

"She is washing her hands. I think she might also be mentally preparing herself." I give her a small smile.

Joyce gives me a small smile in return. "Ok well I was just coming to let you girls know that we just finished setting the table. We will be ready to eat whenever you two get in here."

I stand up and lean against the wall. "Ok we will be in there momentarily." Joyce gives me another small nod then makes her way back to the dinning room. So I am just left with my thoughts for the time being. After about another three minutes Chloe finally comes back down the stairs. "Hey are you alright?"

Chloe gives me a sideways look. "Yeah I am fine. Why what's up?"

"Well I mean you did take like five minutes to just wash your hands." I shift my weight from one foot to another.

She stands there in silence for a moment. "I'm good, I just needed another few minutes to mentally prepare myself is all."

I let out a small sigh. "I figured that. It is ok, we will get through this."

Chloe lets out a sigh of her own. "I know. I am just so worried that things will go bad with your mom. You know I am not the best at fixing things. It is quite the opposite actually. I cause more problems than anything."

"Chloe." I can see it in her eyes. I can see that this is weighing heavily on her mind. "It will be ok. Even if this goes bad we can make it through this somehow. I mean hell look at what have already been through."

She lets out a small chuckle. "Yeah I see your point but still."

"I know Chloe." We both stand in silence for a moment.

Chloe decides to break the silence. "Well I guess we have kept them waiting long enough."

* * *

The dinner starts off kind of slow. Mostly just everyone eating and David and Ryan going on about something they have been working on in the garage.  
Joyce would start up small conversations here and there but none of them really went anywhere. Mom was quite for the whole time. I saw Chloe shift uncomfortably in her seat a few times throughout dinner.

So I have decided to see how it goes myself. "So mom how have you been?"

She gives me a quick look then goes back to her food. "I have been good."

"That is good to hear." Ok so all I got was a small look so maybe some progress has been made. "The food is really good."

Chloe added "Yeah especially these mash potatoes, they are hella good."

Mom gives us another small glance. "I'm glad to hear that."

I saw Chloe sink back down in her seat. Ok it is time to try and get somewhere. "Mom I can't help but notice that you seem to be avoiding looking at me and Chloe."

My dad cleared his throat. "Max sweetie."

"No dad we have to talk about this." I saw a look of worry come over his face. "Is it that much of a problem that you cannot even look at us?"

Mom quietly says "No I am just still adjusting to this."

Chloe stands up. "This is such bullshit!"

Joyce gives her a stern look. "Chloe!"

She looks at her mom. "Mom she has to accept this."

David tells her "Chloe calm down."

She glares at him. "You stay the hell out of this. This has nothing to do with you." She then looks back at my mother. "You need to accept the fact that I am hella in love with Max, and she loves me back. So I have to ask, why is this so damn hard for you to accept?"

Vanessa sits there quite for a minute. "This is just a lot to take in. I never expected this. I am sorry that I cannot just up and accept this like all of you have."

Chloe began to pace back and forth. "David did not take this that easy when he found this out some time ago. In all honesty I think it still somewhat bothers him, but mom helps him through it. I think."

David says "It is true when I found out I was somewhat hysterical. Joyce has helped me come to an understanding about it. But at the same time I know that Chloe is not my actual daughter, so I know she will not really care what I feel about it. But all I want is for her to be happy. Since Max has shown up she has been happier than I have ever seen her."

Joyce now had a few tears in her eyes. "Oh David."

My mom looked around the room. "This is just so much to take in. I mean Chloe you are so different from what I remember."

Chloe stopped pacing and look my mom dead in the eyes. "So that is what this is about. Yes I have my problems. Yes I am a fuck up. But you know what? I am trying to make myself a better person for Max."

Vanessa spoke up "That is not what I mean. It is just overwhelming to me that you two are together like this now. I know that it is petty of me to hold this against you, and I am trying to get past it. But this all just seemed to happen so fast. "

"Mom that is ok. This is all new for me as well. It just all sort of hit me in that crazy ass week." I gave her a small smile.

Mom looks up at me. "To be honest I was hoping to have grandkids one day."

"Mom! We literally just started being a couple a few weeks ago." I was now shifting in my seat uncomfortably.

Chloe had a small shade of red come into her face. "Is that what this is about? I mean hell there is like adoption and shit. If and when ever we get to a point where we talk about kids we will look into all of our options. But that is still quite some time away."

Mom then looks at Chloe. "I suppose I can deal with that. But it will still take me some time to get used to."

I now have tears in my eyes. "Oh mom." I wrap my arms around her to give her a hug.

* * *

After our little emotional talk and dinner Joyce disappered into the kitchen and came back with two different pies. But she also came back with something I did not expect. Her chocolate cake, oh man even though I am stuffed my mouth began watering.

Joyce looked at me and said "Max I remember how much you used to love my chocolate cake so I thought it would be nice to have one as well as the pies."

"Oh man Joyce you did not have to do that." I tell her.

Chloe stands up and puts an arm around her mom. "Well to be honest she did it because I asked her to."

Joyce lets out a small giggle. "If we are being honest it was more like you begged me." Chloe gives her a mock expression of shock.

"Well thank you guys." I am so ready for that cake.

A few minutes into desert my mom speaks up. "Chloe you said you have some problems, if I may ask what are they? The only one I have noticed is that you smoke."

Chloe sunk in her seat a little. "Well I am planning to work on that one. I have already talked with Max and after the pack I am currently on I am going to try to stop. On top of that is a few things that happened the week of the storm that I do not really want to go into detail about. But to top it all off I got expelled from school and have no idea what to do with my life. So that kind of weighs heavily on my mind at times."

My mom gave her a worrying look. "Well I am glad to hear that you are going to try to get the smoking thing under control. About the not knowing what to do thing, I think most people might not know what to do at the point in life you are at."

Joyce added "Chloe I am sure you will figure it out. Life is not about always knowing what to do with it. But more about experiencing it and choosing your own path in life, as well as making the most of it."

Chloe gives them a small smile. "Thanks, I just hope I can do something good with my life."

"You will Chloe." I give her left hand a small squeeze.

* * *

After dinner and desert we sat with our families and talked for a while but now me and Chloe are sitting in my room listening to music. "So I think that went ok."

She looks up and me. "Yeah it could have went a lot worse. It did get a little worrying for a bit though."

"You can say that again." I let my right leg hang off the bed. "Chloe, do those things really weigh on your mind?"

She is silent for a few moment looking out of my window. "Some of it does yeah."

I get off my bed a walk over to her. "Why have not ever brought this up?"

Chloe lets out a sigh. "I just did not want to burden you with this. You have all of you own stuff to deal with. It is just... I don't know. For some reason all of this shit has been in my mind. I mean you know that we went through some crazy shit. You especially. I do not see how you can even be sane with just knowing that you have been through some even more fucked up shit than I can imagine. I do not mean to bring up all of this shit for you to relive. But all of that among other things has been on my mind a lot recently."

I hug her from behind. "Chloe I want to be here for you as much as you are here for me. I do have a lot going on in my head right now, but that should not keep you from coming to me."

She turned to look at me with watery eyes. "I am sorry. I just did not want to burden you with my problems."

"Chloe you are not a burden. Please do not think of yourself that way. Before you say it yes you have problems. But who doesn't I mean look at me.  
I am like the queen of having problems. I am here trying to deal with all of that crazy shit from that week in my mind still." I know had some tears in my eyes as well.

She stood up and pulled me into another hug. "We were given some crazy shit to deal with." Just then a message tone came from my phone. "Talk about a bad time to get a message. We are over here being emotional and shit and they decide now would be a good time."

I could not help but let out a small giggle at her ramblings. "Chloe it is not like they knew we were having an emotional moment."

She retorts "That does not take away from my point." She then starts to laugh.

"And you call me a dork." I pick up my phone to see who the message is from. "It was Kate who messaged me."

 **KATE:** _So how did it go?_

 **MAX:** _It went good. There was a moment where we thought everything was all going to be for nothing but somehow worked out._

 **KATE:** _That is so good to hear._

"She was wanting to know how it all went down." I sit back down on my bed.

Chloe sat back down on my pulled the chair under my desk out and sat down in it. "So I have her to blame for ruining our moment."

I laugh a little at this. "Please don't confront her about this. I know you would mean it as a joke but she would be devastated if you brought this up to her."

She gives me a mock expression of shock. "How dare you say I would ever do such a thing."

"I know how you are Chloe." I give her a small smile as we both laugh at ourselves.


	24. Emotinal Moments

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 24: Emotional Moments**

 **Author's Note: Ok so some of you might be wondering why it seems like there is a big gap in between when I put up a new chapter. The reason for this is because to be honest I am not too sure where I want this whole story to go. I do have some ideas for events to happen. But they are not all in the same time frame. That being said I am not a huge fan of big time skips. Now that being said I do know that it is boring to just read every day basic stuff. So there has been a few small time skips and I will do more but really do not want to go more than a week. When I started this I did try to update on a weekly basis but then I felt that the chapters were way to short and kind of lacking. Also on a side note I did not think anyone would ever read this story but you guys are. So I am going to continue but for now updates might stay as slow as they have been because I am actually just putting this all together as I go. But without further delay here is the next chapter.**

* * *

As I wake up I look out my window and see that the sky looks gloomy today. It must be going to rain soon. I look around and see that Chloe is not in the room with me. I can hear some mumbled voices coming from the hall but I am not able to really hear what is being said. I begin to rub my eyes to get the sleep out of them. As the door opens I see Chloe enter and give me a stern look. "Come on Max, you need to get ready."

"Ready for what?" I then sit up.

She lets out a sigh. "Are you kidding me? You know for what."

At this point I really have no clue what is going on. "Chloe, seriously what is going on?"

Chloe has started to put some of our things into bags. "Come on you know that your dad is kicking us out."

"What! That is ridiculous. Why would he be doing that?" I stand up and move over to her."

She stops what she is doing and looks at me. "How can you forget what happened yesterday?"

"We had dinner with our families, and talked it out with my mom. Everything is fine now." I give her a confused look.

She lets out a small chuckle. "Oh man if only it did go down that way. Did you have a go at my weed or something?"

I am so lost right now. "No I did not. What is so funny?"

She gives me a serious look. "Do you seriously not remember?"

"I already told you what happened. Is this some sort of joke?" If this is a joke I do not get it.

Chloe rubs the back of her neck. "Ok this is a little weird." She then walks over to my desk and leans against it. "Well things definitely did not go as well as you think they did. Once you asked your mom why she has a problem with us being together it all went downhill from there. She made a few remarks about it and you got up in her face yelling about it. After about ten minutes of back and forth from the two of you it hit a breaking point. She told us that she would never accept us and you told her you wish she was not your mother."

I let out a gasp. "But why? That is so not like me."

She looks at me with sad eyes. "Well that is not the worst of it. She left the house shortly after the fight. Vanessa did not come back before all of us went to sleep. Your dad got a call from the hospital to go there at two in the morning. Once he came back he told us that she was in a car accident and is in a coma. So now he blames us for it. So that is why we are being kicked out."

"No, no, no, no. This can't be happening. That is not how it happened." I collapse back down onto the bed."

She looks out the window. "Actually Max it was how it went down."

Why is this happening? Why does everything have to turn to shit around me? Why can I not have a normal life? What the hell is going on?

* * *

I wake and notice that I am lightly covered in sweat. I look at the closet and see Chloe closing it. "Hey Chloe."

She turns around and looks at me. "Hey Max, I just got done taking a shower and changing. Did you have a nightmare? You are covered in sweat."

I get up and stretch my arms and legs. "Yeah I did have one. How did you know I was going to ask what you were up to?"

She lets out a small chuckle. "To be honest it was a lucky guess that you wanted to know. So do you want to talk about it?"

For some reason I am feeling a little light headed. "Well it kind of started normal. I just woke up and you came in and told me we were being kicked out by my dad. Then you told me that yesterday went way worse than it did. After we had a huge fight mom left and got into a car accident and was in a coma."

Chloe made a sorrowful expression. "That does sound bad." I could tell by the look on her face that the mention of an accident brought up memories of her father.

"Chloe I am sorry I did not mean to bring up anything that would bring those memories up." Come on how could I be so careless.

She moved some hair out of her face. "It is ok Max. I know you did not mean to. It is just that if I hear about car accidents I think back about him.  
I will get over it in a few minutes."

In a way Chloe may not blame me but I still feel bad about this. "I still am sorry though."

Chloe sits down on the bed. "It is ok Max. I just need A few minutes to myself. I will be ok."

I can see that she really does want to be alone for now. I guess I will go take a quick shower so she can have some alone time.

* * *

As Max left the room I was left alone with my thoughts. It is still hard to think about it. That day, none of us would have ever thought that something like that would have happened. But dad walked out that door and never came back. Damn this is still so hard to deal with. It has been five years but it still hurts. I feel a few tears going down my face as I am having these thoughts. So many people over the years have told me that I need to move on, but I just cant. He was my fucking dad. How can anyone ever move on when it is someone like that. I have gotten good at suppressing these feelings to an extent but it can be so hard to do at times. Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to talk with max about this. I still miss you dad.

* * *

I hope Chloe is doing a little better now. I really did not intend to make her think about William in that way. Even though she told me it is ok I still feel bad about it. This whole week I have been so worried about how things will go and she has been nothing but supportive to me. But the first thing I do is go and make her think about a horrible time in her life. Good job Max.

As I make my way into the hall I turn off the light in the bathroom. Once I'm in front of my door I take a moment to brace myself. I slowly open the door and she that she is wiping her eyes. "Chloe, I am sorry."

She looks at me and gives me a small smile. "Max I already told you it is ok. It has just been a while since I have thought that much about him. Also last night me and your dad had a conversation and he brought him up some then to."

"Oh Chloe." Wait did I hear her right. "You said that you talked with my dad some last night."

Chloe patted the spot on the bed next to her signaling me to sit down. "Yeah we did, and let me tell you it started off a little awkward."

I let out a small giggle. "I only wonder what you two talked about. When did this happen?"

She ran a hand through her blue hair. "Let's see, it happened when you were in the living room with our moms and David. As for what we talked about..."

* * *

After we all finished dinner Max went into the living room with her mom along with Joyce and David. So I was just sitting in the kitchen hanging out by myself. Ryan came back from being in the garage and stopped by the fridge. "Hey Chloe do you mind stepping into the garage so we can talk?"

I was a little surprised by this. "Sure, what's up?"

He opens the fridge. "Do not worry we will talk in a minute."

So I make my way into the garage and sit on a stool next to a giant tool cabinet. After a few minutes he comes in and closes the door behind him.  
I see he has two beer with him. Ryan makes his way to me and opens one of them and hands it to me. I can't help but wonder if this is some kind of test. "Um you do realize that is a beer you are handing to me right?"

Ryan lets out a small laugh. "Yes I do know that it is a beer. Don't try and act like you have not had one before. I saw you try to sneak one last night but you put it back when Vanessa entered the kitchen."

"You saw that?" I rub my neck.

He laughs again. "Yes I did."

"Sure I'll take it then." I take a small sip and watch him as he pulls a stool from the corner. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Now that he has a place to sit he opens his beer and takes a sip then looks at me. "So how long exactly have you and Max been together?"

I give him a small smile. "Come on man you know this. We have known each other since we were little kids. We were like four when we met."

Ryan gives me a stern look. "You know that is not what I meant."

"Ok sorry. I would say about a month and a half now." I put my beer down and look him in the eyes.

He scratches his beard a little. "Alright, now answer this for me. What exactly are your intentions with my daughter?"

Oh my god is he serious. I could not help but laugh at this. "Are you for real dude?"

He looks confused. "Do you mind telling me what is funny?"

I take a moment to let my laughter die down. "Ok I am sorry but it is funny that you are trying the whole trying to scare my daughters love interest act.  
I have to ask, you were not expecting to have to have this talk with someone like me were you?"

Ryan looks down in embarrassment. "To be honest no. It is a little surprising still though. I mean you two were always really close but I guess neither of us honestly expected this. But I am glad that it is you though."

That was nice of him to say. I clear my throat before I continue. "Well let me be honest with you then. I know I am not the best person. Hell I question myself everyday why does Max even want to be with me. Do I have my life together? No not at all. I sure as hell hope I can get it together especially for her. When my dad died my life was turned upside down. Next thing I know you guys are up and moving away. The next five years of my life was a wreck. I lashed out at everything and everyone. I know that I did not necessarily make things any better for myself, but life it's self was kicking me when I was down trying to make sure I stayed down. Then one day out of the blue Max showed up again. Yes it took a bit but we reconnected and became best friends again. After that crazy ass week that ended with that crazy ass storm things have started to seem better for me. With the exception of all that week my life has been getting better because I am with her. So you want to know my intentions. I want to better myself for her so I can be with her."

Ryan looks up at me. "I see. I had no doubt about how you feel for her. I just wanted to hear you express it. You know for a minute there you sounded just like William. When he would talk with someone about how he felt about Joyce or you he had that same kind of emotion behind his words."

I now had a few tears going down my face. "I miss him so much." My rant got me thinking about the past few years and my dad.

Ryan put a hand on my left shoulder. "I know, and I am sorry you had to go through that. Also for what it is worth I am sorry that we moved away."

I wipe my eyes. "It is ok. I just need a few minutes."

He assures me "That is ok take your time." We sit there for a few minutes mainly in silence. To be honest I am glad I needed time to compose myself.

After a few minutes I finally managed to stop crying. "Ok I think I am good now."

He looks at me with concern in his eyes. "Are you sure you are good? You can take more time if you need to."

"No I am good. It is just that it has been awhile since I have thought this much about him is all." I stand up from my stool.

Ryan then stands up. "Ok then we better get back in there soon, they will be wondering what happened to us."

* * *

"Oh my goodness Chloe, that is so sweet." I pull Chloe into a hug.

She laughs a little. "Yeah at first I was kind of nervous. But once he started the whole act it kinda broke down to be honest."

After a minute we break apart. "When you told me that you two had a private discussion I got a little worried to be honest. I thought you were going to tell me something really bad has happened."

Chloe takes a moment to gauge the look on my face. "Is this because of the dream you had."

"Yes." I answer in a small voice.

She puts a hand on my right shoulder. "It is going to be ok Max. I can't guarantee anything bad will not happen but it seems like we will be ok. But if something does happen we will get through it together."

I look her in her eyes. "I know, and we will. But I just can't help but feel like something bad is just waiting to happen to us."

Chloe replies "The only thing we can do is move forward and deal with things as they happen." We spend a while in my room just spending time together not really doing anything in particular. After some time we go downstairs and spend more time with our families. We all eat some leftovers from yesterday and talk about what all we will be doing once we get back to the bay. Mom and dad even talked about maybe coming back to the bay for Christmas.  
As for me and Chloe we will be seeing how are friends are doing once we get back. After our parents go to bed we get our stuff packed so we can be ready to drive back to Arcadia Bay tomorrow.


	25. Back To Arcadia Bay

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 25: Back To Arcadia Bay**

 **Author's Note: Ok so it has now been one year since I started this. I started on March 16th in 2016. I will be honest I did not think I would go this far or for this long. On top of that you guys are actually taking time to read this thing. So once again thank you to all of you who has taken time to read this and leave a review or just read it at all. So I have made this chaper as long as the first one I started with around 4.5k words so enjoy.**

* * *

We all woke up and shared a family breakfast together and then Chloe and I as well as Joyce and David began to get ready to head back to Arcadia bay.  
As we got into the truck Joyce told Chloe "We will see you girls back home, drive safely."

"I will mom." Chloe responded.

My mom gave me one last hug through the window. "Max call me when you get back to the Price's house so I know you made it safely."

"I will, I love you mom." I give her a small smile.

She gives me a smile in return. "I love you to sweetie."

After all of our goodbyes we finally begin our trip back. We drive for about fifth teen minutes but then Chloe takes an unexpected turn. "Um Chloe, where are you going? We were supposed to keep going that way."

Chloe puts her signature smirk on her face. "I know that. But we did not get anytime to go around the city and there is one place I want to go before we leave. Did you really expect me to leave without checking out the Fremont Troll?"

"I should have known you would want to do something so touristy." I let out a small giggle.

She put a mock expression of hurt on her face for a brief moment then giggled as well. "Can you blame me. I mean I have seen pictures of the thing and it seems out there, so yeah I want to go there before we leave." It takes us a few more minutes to get there as I guide Chloe how to get there. Once we get there Chloe get out of the truck immediately after she turns the engine off. "Max this thing is hella amazeballs."

I get out of the truck and make my way over to her. "Yeah I know. I felt the same way the first time I came here. Go stand over there and I will take your picture." Chloe saunters he way over to the left hand of the monument and turns to her side and leans against it while giving me her signature smirk.

After I take the picture she takes a look at it. "Wow this is good. You made me look good."

"Stop it Chloe, all I did was just take your picture I did nothing to it." I blush a little.

She giggle a little. "Well either way it is a good one."

I have an idea for a good photo for the two of us. "Hey Chloe once we leave the city and we are a little ways out would you mind finding a spot to pull over at so we can take a picture of us in front of the city skyline?"

"Sure, I don't see why that would be a problem." We spend another few minutes there just taking the place in then we make our way out again. After we left the city we drove a ways so there was a good amount of distance between us and the city. Eventually Chloe turned the truck off a side road and we found a nice spot that overlooked the city outskirts. We took a few minutes to find a good spot and got close together to take a selfie together with the skyline of Seattle in the background. "You know I really enjoy these little moments like thins with you."

"I enjoy these moments with you to Chloe." It is times like these that are really good to us.

* * *

As we are driving back we are taking it at a slower place to take in more of the scenery this time since we are not in as much of a rush. But there is something on my mind. "Chloe, can I talk to you about something?"

She takes a quick second to look at me then turns her eyes back to the road. "Sure Max you can talk to me about anything. What's up?"

I look back off into the distance watching the scenery pass by as we keep moving. "Even though things are going good now I can't stop thinking about that crazy week. We went through so much shit that week, and that crazy ass storm came and ripped through the town. I know that the town is making progress on repairs and stuff but I can't stop thinking about that storm that I might have caused."

Chloe is silent for a moments then she put her takes her free hand and interlocks it with my left hand. "I totally understand that. I still think about it a lot as well. I mean hell you went through more than anyone else I am not sure how you are still sane to be honest. Uh, no offense."

"None taken. I get it." I look over at her.

She gives me another quick look with a small smile then turns her eyes back to the road again. "Listen it is like I told you before. We are not entirely sure the storm happened because of you. Maybe it did, maybe it did not. All we know is that week we found out some fucked up shit and some even worse shit happened. You were given a power out of nowhere and had no explanation of how it works or what could happen because of it. All we can do is be there for each other and support each other the best we can."

I squeeze her hand a little. "Yeah your right. It is just that on the cliff I made a huge decision. I don't regret choosing you but it is still hard to live with the fact that my actions could have caused all that damage. I know were not sure if I caused it or not but it is still hard just the same."

Chloe rolls down her window. "I get that. Somehow we will get through this together. I am here for you though you know that right?"

"Yeah Chloe I know. I thank you for that." I let out a small sigh.

* * *

It was around three when we finally arrived back in Arcadia Bay. I called my mom shortly after we arrived to let her know we made it alright. I wanted to try to go meet with Kate today but she was still with her family for the rest of the weekend. We decided to pay Frank a visit and see how he was doing,  
and go see how Warren is doing. After we let Joyce now we are back we make our way to the hospital shortly after that.

As we are making our way to Frank's room I ask Chloe "So do you think he is in any better condition now than he was?"

Chloe stays silent for a moment pondering my question. "I hope so but he was pretty bad off. I mean you have seen how he has been every time we come to see him. He looks a little better as time goes on but who knows how long it will be until they let him out of here."

As we entered the room Frank called out "Hey it's Thelma and Louise back again." hearing this made me think back to when I first met Frank in the junkyard.

Chloe sat down in a chair on his right. "Yeah we are back."

"How are you doing Frank?" I begin to rub my left arm for no reason.

He shifts in his bed some. "I guess I am doing better. I wish I could see Pompidou. How is he doing?"

I take a seat next to Chloe. "He is doing good, we had Dana check on him while we were at my parents for thanksgiving. I don't think David is to fond of him though."

Chloe let out a small laugh. "To bad for him. Besides we keep him out side anyway."

Frank puts a sad smile on his face. "Thanks again for taking care of him for me. He is all I got let you know. After I found out that I helped that little shit Nathan with his and that sick fuck of a teacher whole operation, I just really took into account all I had. I can't stop thinking about all those people who suffered because I gave them their supply."

"You can't hold yourself accountable for that." I try to comfort him. "You had no idea what was going on. There is no way you could have known what they were up to."

He takes a deep breath then releases it slowly. "That is nice of you to say but it does not change the fact that I inadvertently gave them what they needed.  
In the end it ended up taking Rachel away from us."

Chloe shifts uncomfortably in her seat. "Yeah, all of that was some serious fucked up shit. I wish she was still here but she is not. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it. The best we can do is live a life worth living for her."

The drug dealer sniffled at Chloe's words. "Yeah, I suppose you are right. It's just going to be hard you know?"

Chloe looks down to the floor. "I do know Frank. I do know it will be hard."

We all sit in silence no one really knowing what to say after that. Also I think they needed the time after the talk about Rachel. I feel so bad for them. Here they are bonding over someone they both loved and I am here with nothing really to offer them. It feels a little weird to be honest. It seems like everyone I know has some stories about Rachel and how she was. She sounded like a really interesting person. I wish I would have got the chance to meet her.  
But unfortunately that is not going to happen.

After about five minutes of silence Chloe finally breaks the silence. "So have you heard anything about when you might get out of here?"

He wiped a few tears from his eyes. "They told me it might still be another two weeks."

She lets out a small laugh. "Damn dude you are here for the long haul."

He let out a small chuckle himself. "Well you two saw how bad I was when I first got here. I am lucky to be alive."

"It is good to see you are doing much better compared to then." I tell him.

* * *

After we visited Frank we decided to go and see how Warren was doing. "Hey Max and Chloe. I was not expecting to see you two today."

"Hey Warren how are you doing today?" I ask him.

He coughs and shifts in his bed a little. "Ok I suppose. I still have pain though. But they have given me pain meds for it though."

Chloe takes a seat in a chair next to the window. "Ah did they give you the good shit?"

Of course Chloe would go there. "Really Chloe?"

She puts up her hands in defense. "What? It was a joke."

He lets out a small laugh it is good to hear him laugh. "Well I am not too sure if it is the good stuff. But I was told that my parents can take me home in a day or two I just have to take it easy for a while."

"That is good news." I now take a seat in a chair on the right side of his bed. "It must be a relief to know you get to go home soon."

Warren is silent for a moment as he ponders something. "It is, but at the same time I am not so sure you know? I mean it is good that I get to go home but I am still getting used to this whole missing an eye thing."

I grab my left arm out of nervousness. "I know this must be hard for you. I am sorry Warren."

He gives me a small smile. "You have nothing to be sorry for Max. This just happened. No one could have known this was going to happen. It just came out of nowhere."

Oh Warren, if only you knew what really happened. I want to tell him but I am not too sure how he will take it. Also this might not be the best time, but is there ever really a right time for telling about all this crap. I don't know, it might be best to keep it quiet.

Once again a heavy silence fills the room. Chloe breaks the silence after a minute. "So has anyone else came to visit you recently?"

He shifts in his bed again. "Kate visited before she went to go spend Thanksgiving with her family. Daniel stopped by the other day as well. Brooke was here earlier. She came to see how I was doing she has been doing that a lot lately. She told me about another planet of the apes marathon a few towns over happening in a few weeks."

"That is good to hear you are spending time with Brooke." It seems like they might finally get together after all.

* * *

Now that we were done visiting people at the hospital we decided to go visit Dana before night fall. Her parents have a house on the far side of town away from the shore so it was not that badly hit. Once we arrive at her place and knock on her door she opens the door and is excited to see us. "Hey you guys are back." She pulls us both in for a hug.

"It is good to see you to." I tell her.

Chloe pulls herself away from the hug after a few moments. "Ok thanks for the grope. Also thanks for feeding Frank's dog for us while we were gone."

Dana closes the door behind us. "Oh it was no problem at all. There was not much going on around while everybody was out with their families the past few days. So I needed something to do anyway."

We make our way into the living room and take a seat on the sofa, Dana sits in a chair across from us. "How is Trevor doing?"

She puts her phone down in her leg. "He is doing good. He went to go spend a few days with his parents like most people are doing. He still has to take it easy as you know. It takes an amount of damage like he has a while to heal. Especially since he got hit in the chest."

"How about you? How are you holding up?" I give her a small smile.

Dana is silent for a moment then shifts in her seat. "I am ok I suppose. I mean nothing is bad at the moment. It is still hard to grasp, you know what I mean? A storm came out of nowhere and hit Arcadia Bay little over a month ago and now here we all are. Now all of us are dealing with all that happened because of it."

Chloe let out a sigh. "Yeah I get you. It is a little jarring to get used to when you think about it."

I start to play with the bracelet on my wrist. "It is all so messed up."

The cheerleader looks at me with a questioning look. "Hey Max what do you think will happen to the photography program at Blackwell? You know since it turns out Jefferson was a total creep who kidnapped girls and took them to a underground dungeon."

I look up at her. "To be honest I don't know what will happen. Hopefully they will find a new teacher who is not like Jefferson."

Chloe added "I bet it will be hard to find someone who wants to fill his position."

Dana lets out a sigh of her own. "You might be right. I am with Max though hopefully they do find a replacement. Especially since there are a good number of students who mainly came for that class."

"I know that is true. Especially for me since it is the only class I actually do really good in." I hear Dana laugh at my joke.

Suddenly Dana is bouncing in her seat. "Oh I can't believe I almost forgot. How did it go with your parents?"

Chloe sat forward. "Oh you know it went great. How can anyone not like me?"

I have a smile on my face now. "It did go good actually. I was so nervous the entire time. But in the end it all ended up ok, we talked it out with my mom and she is at least ok with us now. Now we just need to give her time to actually get used to it I suppose."

Dana had a smile on her face now. "That is good to hear. I remember you telling me that the last time it did not go so well. I am happy for you two."

* * *

Once we arrived back at Chloe's house we were greeted by Joyce as she was about to get started on making dinner. She wanted to know what we did this afternoon and we filled her in on it. "So I take it you girls enjoyed yourselves today catching up with some friends."

"Yeah we did Joyce. Do you want some help with cooking dinner?" I move over to the counter next to her.

Joyce closes the refrigerator. "I would like that."

Chloe moves out of the kitchen to the stairwell and calls out "I will leave it to you guys let me know when dinner is ready."

I move to the sink to wash my hands. "So what are we making?"

Joyce goes to the counter behind me. "Baked chicken with some mashed potatoes."

"Oh that sounds nice." I grab a paper towel and dry my hands with it.

After I dry my hands Joyce hands me a potato peeler. "Do you mind peeling he potatoes for me?"

"Not at all." I grab the peeler and grab a potato to begin.

Joyce then turns her back to me to begin working on the chicken. "You know since you have come back into Chloe's life you have single handedly made her rethink some of her decisions in life these past few years. I can tell that she is different around you. On top of that you have somehow convinced her to try to quit smoking. I do not know how you did it but I am glad that you have. When she started I thought it would just be a phase, but I made the mistake of bringing it up to her one day. All that ended up accomplishing was making her smoke more just to spite me."

"Joyce I am so sorry for everything you two have been through since I left." I look at her and see she has a small sad smile on her face.

She lets out a sigh. "You have nothing to be sorry for Max. Life just decided it was going to make things hard for us and she had to grow up much faster.  
Things happen in life and we do not always have control over it. But she is defiantly happier now that you are back."

I feel a few tears forming in my eyes. "She deserves to be happy. You both do. I just hope I can do enough for her."

She let out a small laugh. "Max you just being here is doing more than you know."

Right after Joyce finished her statement we heard Chloe coming down the stairs. Chloe called out as she went past the kitchen "I almost forgot to feed Frank's dog."

Joyce said "Now she is even taking care of that man's dog."

* * *

After dinner me and Chloe made our way to her room. "Man that chicken and potatoes was good. You and mom both made some good food."

I blush a little. "All I did was peel that potatoes. Joyce did all the rest of the work."

Chloe sat on her bed. "Well then I guess I need to get you to learn how to cook."

"Hey I know how to cook!" I take a seat next to her. "Besides I did not see you in there helping your mom."

She let out a small laugh. "Well for one thing I have already learned how to cook a few things from her. Secondly I am her daughter, it is in my genes that I have good cooking skills."

I lean down to untie my shoes. "Well then I guess I will need to get you to cook me something sometime."

She puts her signature smirk on her face. "Maybe I will but I am not too sure you deserve it." She then bursts out into laughter.

After she finishes laughing I talk to her about what Joyce said to me. "Damn I knew I had given mom some problems over the years but I am not sure how to make it up to her."

As I get my shoes I look her in the eyes. "Well you could try and start by apologizing to her."

"Ha." She gets up off the bed and begins to pace the room. "Yeah that would be good but once again no idea where to start with that."

I put my legs under me to sit cross legged. "Come on Chloe just let it come from the heart. I know you can do this. Do you want me to be with you when you do this?"

She keeps pacing the room but slows down. "It is nice of you to offer but I am good. I need to do this alone. I was the one who made it harder for her these past few years not me and you. So it just seems right that I need to be the one to do it alone."

I offer her a small smile. "I understand. I am proud of you."

Chloe moves over to the door. "Alright well I will be back in a bit."

* * *

As I make my way down the stairs I can feel the nervousness growing in me. I find my mom alone in the living room going through an old picture book.  
"Hey what are you doing there?"

Mom looks up at me. "Oh I am just thinking about some of the good times from years ago."

I take a seat across from her. "I see. So uh, where is David?"

She gives me a puzzled look. "He said he needed to go to the store to get a few things, why?"

"No reason at all. I just wanted me and you to be able to talk alone for a few minutes is all." I begin to absent mindedly play with one my suspenders.  
"Do you mind if we talk."

Mom gives me a small smile. "Chloe you are my daughter of course we can talk. What is it you are wanting to talk about?"

I look down at the floor. "Well I wanted to tell you I am sorry."

Mom let out a small gasp. "Chloe I must say..."

"Hold on, let me continue before you go any farther." I take a deep breath. "I know you are about to say that I am your daughter so it is ok, but it is not.  
When dad died my world came crashing down around me. Then next thing I know Max's parents get new jobs and they have to move away. I felt like the world was just trying to destroy my life. Everything was going to hell for me. My life went down in a spiral motion and I could not stop it. No matter what I did nothing eased the pain. So I lashed out at everything and everyone. I have made some bad life decisions these past few years. Some of the worst have came back and caused you a shit ton of trouble. I am sorry for everything I have put you through these past few years."

Mom was silent for a minute as she processed everything I just told her. "Well Chloe I must say that I was not expecting this. I have to ask though, what brought this up?"

I let out a sigh. "Well I have been thinking about this over the past few days. While I was thinking about it I realized that I have made life harder for you and I started to feel bad about it."

Mom leans forward. "Chloe it is ok. I do not hold any of it against you. I know these past few years have been tough on you. I know that William passing was especially hard on you. It was hard on me to. I know it seems like I moved on fast but I have not forgotten about him. I could never forget him. Not a day goes by that I do not think of him."

I now have a few tears in my eyes. "I know it seems immature but I just can't get over it. Why did he have to die? I know that people think I should be over it by now but that is bullshit."

Joyce grabs one of my hands. "It is fine that you are not over it yet. Your dad was always here for us and seemed to have an answer for most things. You lost him at a young age so it is understandable why you still grief over it. You take all the time you need to deal with it. But you will always have him in your heart. This may sound bleak but in a way we never get over it. We just move on but still deal with it."

"You are right, that does sound bleak." I wipe some of my tears away. "But I am sorry though."

Mom now has tears in her eyes as well. "Like I said it is ok. I am glad you came to me to talk about this. It means a lot to me."

I let out a small laugh. "To be honest if you want to thank someone it should be Max. It is because of her I got the nerve up to come down here and do this."

Mom lets out a laugh of her own. "Well then I will be sure to do that. I am glad that she has come back into your life."

"Me to mom. Me to." I now have a small smile on my face as well as the tears in my eyes.

Joyce gets up and heads to the stairs. "You know I have a good feeling about the future for all of us."


	26. Making Plans

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 26: Making Plans**

 **Author's note: First off let me apologize for letting this go almost two months without a update. To tell the truth I had no idea what to do next with this story. So it took me a long time to figure it out. As of now I have an idea of where I want it to go. Now I know that I said I would try not to do these 1.5k chapters but I really wanted to put something up for this soon and felt this chapter was a good length for the start into the next segments.**

* * *

Once Kate got back from spending two weeks at her parents for the holidays she asked me to come over for some tea. Once I open the door to her room I see her look up and smile at me. "Hey Kate how is it going? I have missed you."

She stood up and gave me a hug. "I have missed you as well. I am doing well. How about you?"

As we separate I move to go sit in her desk chair. "I have been doing ok I suppose. As you know from the text I sent you things got a little rattled at my parents house over the holiday. But things are going good for now."

Kate is setting up her area she make tea in. "Well that is good to hear. So how is everyone? I have not had a chance to go see anyone yet."

"I know this might seem like a vague answer but everyone seems to be doing better to some extent. Warren finally got to go home. Dana did not do much she just stayed here during break. Her parents were away on some trip apparently I feel bad for her."

Kate now has the water boiling and adding the tea in. "That is so sad to hear about for her. I will try to do something for her. That is good news to hear about Warren though." She moves over to sit on her bed while the tea is being made. "Can I ask you something?"

I shift in my seat and smile at her. "Sure Kate what is it?"

She hesitates for a moment and looks down. "Um do you have any ideas for what you are going to be doing for the holidays? Because I was thinking about trying to do something for everyone here at Blackwell and was hoping you might want to help."

To be honest I was not expecting this. "To tell you the truth I do not have any ideas yet. To top it off I have no idea what I am going to even get Chloe for Christmas."

She gives me a small smile. "It is nothing to big I have an idea to put together a small get together for all of us and maybe a few small gifts."

"That sounds good. Any ideas on what we might get though?" I lean forward.

Kate crosses her legs. "Well to be honest no. I was kind of hoping you would help me to figure that out."

"Oh." I now saw the look in her face like she was really looking forward to this. "I am not that good at figuring out stuff to get people but I will help you."

The tea kettle began to whistle so she got up to go get it off the hot plate. "Oh thank you Max. To be honest I am not too sure what to get anyone as well.  
But since it is the two of us hopefully we will be able to figure something out." Kate set the kettle down on her desk and then unplugged the hot plate.  
"By the way do you know what you are going to get Chloe yet? I know you just said you have no idea but you must have some thoughts."

I could now feel a light blush on my cheeks and was looking down at the floor again. "Well to be truthful no. I might try to find a few good pictures to take but I also want to try to get something else for her but have no idea what to get. Ugh I do not even know where to begin." I look up and see that Kate is giggling. "Hey this is not that funny."

She takes a second to calm herself down. "Sorry Max, but it is a little funny to see you worked up over this. I am sure Chloe will enjoy whatever you end up getting for her." Kate gets up and begins to pour some tea into the cups she had set out. "Here you go. I hope you don't mind but all I had today was some mint herbal tea."

"That is ok, thank you." I take a sip and it is really good. I am not too fond of minty things but this tea is good. "This is actually really good."

After she finishes her sip she gives me a small smile. "It is good. I have not had this before today but I might have to get more for the future."

"You know this might not be a bad idea to have this as a drink for people at our little party." I take another sip of my tea.

She sets down her cup and grabs a notepad and pencil from her nightstand. "That is a good idea. Let me just make a quick not about it." After she makes the quick note she stops and thinks for a moment. "Hey do you think Dana might be willing to help us put this together? She seems to be good at this kind of stuff."

I let out a small giggle. "I am sure she would love to. I remember how she was with setting up the Halloween decorations around campus." This does sound like something Dana would love to do, also it will be something the three of us can bond over.

She picks up her tea again to continue drinking it. "I will be sure to call her later." After a moment she puts on a sad look on her face. "While I was at my parents house my mother tried to talk me into leaving this school and coming back home. I can understand her though. Things here have been crazy especially as of late. But truth be told I do not want to leave. Because then I would not get to stay in school and be friends with you."

"I am glad to hear that. But I want you to do what is best for you." I am a little surprised to hear this. "Do not get me wrong I would love for you to stay but I do not want to cause problems between you and your family."

Kate looks out of her windows. "I spent a good amount of time thinking about this, I do want to stay. Is it hard knowing all that I have been through yes. But everything I have been through I believe has made me a stronger person." She now looks back at me. "Do not worry about problems happening between me and my family. My mother does not agree with my decision but my father does support me. In time he will find a way to help her understand.  
Also like I told you. I want to be able to spend more time with my friends."

I put my tea down and stand up. "Well for hat ever it is worth you have my support as well."

She puts her tea down and stands up as well. "It means a lot to me Max thank you." We then share a hug.


	27. Plans of Our Own

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 27: Plans of Our Own**

 **Author's note: So now we are officially getting a life is strange prequel. Now everyone is allowed their own opinion but I am totally hyped.**

* * *

So since Max is out having a tea date with Kate I can actually get to work on getting her present. But I have no idea what I am possibly going to get her. I could get her some more film for her camera, but I want to get her something else as well. Maybe my mom can help me come up with something. I wonder what she is up to.

I begin to make my way down the stairs and see my mother putting her shoes on by the door. "Hey mom what are you up to?"

She looks up at me once she has her shoes on. "I am about to head out to go looking for something to get David."

"Oh that is cool." I rub the back of my neck. "Do you ugh, mind if I go with you? I need to look for something for Max."

She gives me a small smile. "Sure, do you have any idea what you might get her?"

I look down at the floor. "Not really. I have an idea to get her some film for her camera but I want to get her something else too. But I have no idea what. I was kind of hoping maybe you could possibly help me think of something."

Joyce let out a small chuckle. "Oh Chloe, sure lets go. But you are going to drive." We then make our way out to my truck. We drive in silence for a few minutes as we make out way out to head to the next town over. It is shortly after we leave Arcadia is anything said. "So do you have any other ideas at all?"

I move some hair behind my right ear. "Well I might try to get some of that hipster indie music that she likes. But I still want to get something even better you know. I mean this is out first holidays together as a couple." Joyce let out a small chuckle again. "What? What is so funny?"

I see from a quick glance she is smiling. "You are acting just like your father. William always got like this when it came to things like this. The way you are acting is just reminding me so much of him."

"Is that so?" I let out a small sigh. "It is still so hard. I know we have talked about it but damn, it just does not seem to get easier."

Joyce puts a hand on my shoulder. "I know sweetie. I know."

I prop my left arm on the door and lean my head against my hand. "You really think I am acting like him."

She removes her hand from my shoulder. "Yeah you do at times. Especially as of late. William always was a man who like to see humor in everything and try to lighten the mood always with jokes. But when it came to something he really cared for he would stop at nothing for it. I can see that look in your eyes at times. He would get that same look in his eyes."

I remember him being that way as well. I wonder if Max can see this in me as well.

* * *

After we have driven for a while we stumbled into the next small town over. In the center of town there is a few little food places and shops all around.  
We decided to go the dinner for some lunch before we went to look for gifts. I ordered a bacon cheese burger and mom ordered a chicken sandwich.  
As our waitress walks away my mom speaks up. "Chloe there is something I want to ask of you?"

"Sure ask away." From her tone I can tell this might not be so good.

She lets out a small sigh. "Before I ask this I just want to let it be known that I do realize the last time we tried something like this it ended bad. But I would appreciate it if you and David could get along for the holidays and we could have a nice family Christmas. I will settle for just that day in all honesty."

I now rub the back of my neck. "Listen mom. I am trying to make some progress with him but it is still not all that easy to deal with him. Besides it is like you just said the last time we tried something as a family it ended badly. I mean I ended up pulling the knife we used to cut my birthday cake on him."

Joyce gives me a stern look. "Yes I know. I still am having trouble trying to figure out how that happened. But as I also just told you I am willing to just ask for that one day."

"You are not going to let this one go are you?" I look out the window looking to see what shops are around.

She reaches across the table and takes my left hand. "No Chloe I will not. But don't you think that after everything we have all just been through we all deserve to have this time together."

I let out a small sigh. "Ok fine. I will try my best to not have too many fights with him during the holidays ok."

She gives me a smile. "Thank you."

"So any ideas what you are going to get him." I take a sip of my coffee.

Joyce takes a moment to think about her ideas. "Well to be honest we do not have that much to put towards our gifts this year with everything that has just happened. But I plan of getting him some new shirts and a bottle of whisky that he likes. Other than that I was just going to see what else I could find for him."

I look back out the window. "I see." As I look at the shops I see a liquor store, a toy store, a grocery store and a few other little small places you might be able to find someone a gift. But my eyes land on one store in particular. A store that is for cameras and camera equipment but also does photoshoots,  
and the sigh in the window says they have a retro photography section. "Hey look over there. I might be able to get Max some stuff from there."

My mother now looks out the window as well and it takes her a moment to find the photography store. "Well what do you know, a photography store that has a retro section."

* * *

After we finished eating we split up to go find some stuff. As I entered the photography store I saw all sorts of equipment on display and the photoshoot section towards the back. While I am making my way through the store I see a lot of stuff for digital cameras but none for the old polaroid stuff yet.  
After about five minutes I find the retro section. I look through the stuff and find some film for her camera and make my way to the front counter.

Once I reach the front counter the cashier looks at me. "Did you find everything ok?"

"Yeah I did." I set the film down on the counter."

The cashier looks at the film. "So you use one of those old polaroid do you?"

"No I do not really do this whole photography thing. But my girlfriend loves it and she uses one." I look at what is behind the counter.

He has a small smile now. "It is interesting to see people still use these cameras from time to time."

I see a lot of different kinds of photobooks behind the counter. "Hey those photobook back there look really nice, how much for one?"

He takes a moment to look behind him. "Oh they vary from different prices. We also offer custom made photobooks as well. If you want I will get the layout book from the back and we can get to work on getting you a custom one."

I now have a smile on my face. "Hella yes. This is going to make an awesome gift for her."

* * *

Once I finished at the photography store I went to go look for my mother. I found her just about to enter the liquor store. "Well, well, look who is going into the liquor store. Need a little drink do we?"

She gives me a small sigh. "Chloe I already told you I was going to get David some of this whisky he likes."

I laugh a little. "I am just messing with you."

She looks at me. "Ok then here you can take these bags and put them in the truck for me."

"Sure thing." Once she enters the store I make my way to my truck and put the bags in. As soon as I am done loading the bags up I get the urge to smoke.  
Damn trying to quit is hard. But I am doing this for Max I take out my pack of nicorette and see that I am on my last piece. Luckily there is a convenience store across the street so I can get some more while I wait. On my way back to the truck I see my mother waiting by it.

Joyce asks "Where did you go off to?"

I take out my keys to unlock my truck. "I had to get more gum."

As she gets in the truck mom gives me a small smile. "I am glad you are trying to quit smoking."

I pull out of the parking lot to make my way to the highway. "Well if you want to praise someone then let it be Max. I'm doing this to make myself better for her."

As we make it back onto the highway mom asks "So did you get some nice stuff for Max?"

"Yeah I did but I have to go back in a week and a half for one of the things." I crack my window open.

I can see from the corner of my eye she is looking at me for details. "So what is it?"

I let out a small laugh. "That information is confidential."

There is a glimpse of a stern look on her face. "And why is that?"

"Because I know how nosey Max can be." I give her a small smirk. "On top of that I want this to be a complete surprise. So that way even if she does bug you about it there is no way she can find out about it. I will say this I think it is going to be something special that I really hope she will like."

Joyce let out a small chuckle. "I am sure she will like it whatever it is."

I put a small smile on my face. "I hope so. By the way did you get the stuff you were looking for?"

She let out a Yawn. "Yeah I did get a few things. I still need to get some stuff for you but I know better than to do that with you with me. I even found something for Max, I found a shirt with a doe on it with some blue butterflies flying around it."

"Huh, that sounds nice. Also kind of ironic. You have no idea how much she has been into those things lately." Well that is kind of surprising. Max said she saw that blue butterfly before all this shit happened. Also she kept seeing that spirit doe.


	28. Memorium

I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release

 **Chapter 28: Memoriam**

 **Author's note: Look at that I am finally back. Of first off sorry this took so long. This chapter took me a good amount of time to actually get started.**  
 **Although I have had the idea for this chapter for a while. Once again sorry this one took so long.**

* * *

Shortly after Chloe and her mom came back from where they went Chloe came over to me while Joyce went upstairs. "Hey there, what have you two been up two?"

She sat down beside me on the couch. "Oh nothing much. Just a little bit of this and that."

"Oh really now." I give her a curious look.

Chloe now has a small grin on her face. "Yeah it was good. Just me and mom spending some quality time together."

"That sounds nice." I move closer to her and grab her hand. "So did you two do anything else?"

She lets out a small laugh. "Sorry Max but that is all I am going to tell you." Chloe then pulls out her pack of gum and begins to chew on a piece. "Also before you get any ideas mom will not tell you anything either."

I give her a pouting face, "How could you two be so mean to me?"

A strand of her blue hair falls in front of her face. "You know you look really cute when you sulk." We both start to giggle.

After our giggle fit dies down I remember what Kate texted me earlier. "Hey Kate wants to get together tomorrow to go look about some stuff for this little party we are putting together. It will mostly just be looking at decorations and stuff and it might be boring for you but she wants us all to hang out."

Chloe begins to take her boots off. "Sure yeah we can do that. You two have any ideas about this whole thing yet?"

I look down at the floor. "Not really no."

She lets out another small laugh. "Well then I guess it is a good thing I will be going with you guys then."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" I give her a small smile.

She give me a mock expression of hurt. "How could you have so little faith in me?"

"I just know how you can be at times. Besides you know how Kate is. This is something she wants to do so let's just kind of help guide her." I then give her a hug.

* * *

I open my eyes and see the steeps leading down to the road in front of Blackwell. I hear some water moving a little behind me and turn my head to see that I am sitting on the edge of the fountain. After I stand up and look around I notice that no one else is around, I am all alone. The air around feels calm. Out of nowhere I hear a voice I have never heard before call out to me. "Max it is so good to finally meet you!" I look over at the doors leading into the main building. Before my eyes is the girl herself, Rachel Amber. As she makes her way to me her hair flows a little in the wind.

"Rachel?" I could not believe my eyes.

She lets out a small laugh as she reaches me. "The one and only." Rachel takes a moment to look me over. "You know I can kind of see why Chloe likes you so much."

I know feel a blush showing on my face. "Oh please. I am still trying to figure that out myself. I mean look at you, it is practically no contest."

Rachel lets out a sigh. "Yes but you are a better person than me. Even though you did leave Chloe against your will you made no attempt to contact her for five years. But you have made that up it seems. Again though you are a better person than I was. I mean look at what you and Chloe found out about me in that week."

"It was bad what all you kept from her." I now rub my neck. "But you are also right I had to leave her against my own will. But at the same time I made no attempt to try and get in contact with her. You have no idea how grateful I am that you were there for her when I was not. From what she has told me you helped her so much."

The blonde girl sits on the edge of the fountain. "She was in very dark place when I met her. Chloe told me about what happened to her father. She also told me about how you had to leave as well. Then I found out about David and how he could be at times. I could see it in her eyes, Chloe was just at a loss not knowing what to do. But even though I was there for her I could always tell that she felt like she was still missing something. Now you are back, I can see now that you are what she was missing still. But you are helping her now. I have to say you two look really good together."

I can feel another blush making its way on my face. "Uh, thanks. No offence but there is still so much mystery surrounding you for me."

Rachel lets out another small laugh. "Says the girl who can rewind time."

"Wait you know about that!" I am now stunned.

She moves some of her hair behind her shoulder. "Yes I do. I have been watching over you two."

Maybe she will have an answer for the question I have been asking myself constantly. "Do you know if my powers are what caused the storm for certain?"

Rachel lets out a small sigh. "Unfortunately I do not know for sure if your powers did or did not cause it. But if it is any consolation to you I do not believe that you caused that storm. I am sorry that I do not have the answer to that question for you though."

I let out a sigh of my own. "No it is fine."

The blonde girl then put a hand on my left shoulder. "By the way, thank you. You and Chloe found my body and now people know what happened to me.  
So thank you."

"I just wish there was more we could have done." I look into her eyes. "I am sorry that I could not save you as well."

She gave me a knowing smile. "It is ok Max. Just promise me that you will look after Chloe for me."

"I will Rachel. I will." Rachel then gives me a hug.

* * *

As I wake up I can see outside the window that it is still dark out. I also see Chloe sitting up with her back turned to me. "Hey Chloe."

Chloe turns her head to look at me. "Sorry Max, did I wake you up?"

"No I woke up on my own. I just had a dream about Rachel." I move myself into a sitting position.

She has a puzzled expression on her face. "What did you say?"

I grab her hand. "I said I had a dream about Rachel."

After I told her about my dream she pulled me into a hug. "This is so weird."

I move away from her enough to give her a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

She leans back against the wall. "I had a dream about Rachel as well."

* * *

As I stepped out of my truck I looked over the junkyard. The sun was just starting to set and there was a light breeze. I could hear the sound of some music being played. It sounded like it came from the direction of the little club house me and Rachel used to hang out in. As I approach the shed the music gets louder. Once I reach the shed I enter it and see someone I never thought I would see again. Rachel was dancing to music in the shed. Once she saw me she called out "Hey Chloe." I was overcome by a number of emotions. I was overjoyed to see her, but I also felt sad. At the same time I was puzzled, but I was also angry. So I walked right up to her and slapped her. This apparently stunned her because she sat there in silence for a moment. "I suppose I deserve that."

I let out a breath of air I was holding in. "Yeah no shit you deserve it. Especially after all the shit I found out you kept behind my back. But I am glad to see you still."

Rachel turned the music down. "Chloe I am so sorry. I know what I did was wrong but I was not sure how to bring it up to you."

"Well that sure did not seem to stop you from doing it." I let out a sigh.

Rachel sits down on the couch. "I know I fucked up big time. I mean look at where it got me."

Hearing this I look down at my feet. "Even though you hid all that shit from me you still did not deserve what happened to you. That is hella fucked up what Nathan and Jeffershit did to you."

Rachel now had a sad smile on her face. "Yeah but at least you and Max found out what happened to me."

"I just wish it would have been different you know?" I lean against the wall.

She let out another sigh. "Yeah I do know what you mean. But unfortunately it did not happen differently." We both sat in silence for a few moments after that. Then Rachel looked up at me. "You know you and Max look good together."

I give her a small smile. "Wow I would have never expected you to say that."

Rachel pulls her left leg up to sit on the edge of the couch and wraps her arms around it. "Well it is hard not to notice."

"I am so happy she is back in my life. But at times I feel like I am not worthy of her." I run my hands through my hair. "She is so good to me but I just cannot help but feel like I can do more but I just cant. I mean look at me, I got expelled from school. I am a pothead, not to mention that I seem to fuck up everything in life. I am a fuckup in life." I now slip down and sit on the floor.

She leans forward and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Chloe, you need to stop thinking so little of yourself. You might be at a low point in your life but Max is helping you out of your ordeal. You can do such great things. The only person who is holding you back is yourself."

"Yeah I know, but I am just at a loss with what to do." We both sat in silence for a few moments. I wiped some of the tears forming in my eyes away and looked at Rachel. "Can I ask you something?"

Rachel gave me a smile. "Sure."

I cleared my throat. "Ok then. Why Frank?"

She started to play with the blue jay feather earing she was wearing. "I don't know. Just after all that time we spent with him I grew to like him. He is not such a bad guy Chloe. He is sweet and caring. Also Pompidou really seemed to like me."

"Still though, I have to say that one was a real surprise." I look up at the ceiling for a moment. "Besides who the hell names a dog Pompidou?"

We both laugh at that. "I have no idea Chloe. But I like that dog."

* * *

"So yeah, that is how my dream with Rachel went." I can see the look of amassment in Max's eyes.

Max look out the window as she speaks. "Wow it is kind of crazy how we both have a dream about Rachel at the same time."

I give her a sad smile. "Yeah, but you know it make me feel glad in way you know? I mean in a weird way I got to see Rachel again, at least it felt like it."

She puts her arms around me and pulls me into a hug. "I get what you mean. I can see how you feel that way."

"Would you mind if we go and visit the graveyard at some point during the day?" I feel her lean her head on my shoulder.

Max closes her eyes. "Of course we can."

I look at the clock and notice that it is almost four in the morning. "Well we might want to try and get some more sleep then.

* * *

After we had breakfast me and Max made our way to the graveyard. Once we arrived we sat in the truck in complete silence for a few minutes. Once we did get out of my truck and begin to make our way through the cemetery a light breeze began to blow. As we reached her grave I looked over the tombstone. It still looked new, then again it has only been here a short time. "You know Rachel I am still surprised that both Max and myself had a dream about you last night. That blows my mind."

Max wrapped her coat around herself tighter. "I just wish I got to meet you in real life."

I then wrapped my arms around her. "I do to Max, and I am sure Rachel would have loved to meet you in real life as well. In life you were an amazing person to hang with. But you were also shrouded in mystery. Like I talked with you in my dream last night I am still not totally sure how to feel about how everything went down with you. But if it is any consolation I forgive you."

Max wiped some tears from her eyes. "I know I did Chloe badly by not keeping in touch with her when I went to Seattle but as I told you in my dream I will stay with her this time. Again I am sorry for what happened to you Rachel."

I let out a sniffle. "Hey if you don't mind I would like to visit dad before we go."


End file.
